


Beth, Destroyer of Worlds

by Hasty85



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Boomer's so dead, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Never mess with Beth, Revenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-24 21:21:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14363940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hasty85/pseuds/Hasty85
Summary: Beth decides to settle the Boomer problem and put a scare into her blackmailer. (Warning, seriously dark, but no kids were harmed.)





	1. Prelude

"I need a thing," Beth begins. Rio looks up from his lunch, and tries not to sigh. Of course she does. She orders and smiles brilliantly at the waiter, and pushes a piece of notepaper at him. He reads it, and blinks. The items listed aren't, surprisingly illegal. More surprisingly, he knows what they are.  
"You a photographer?" he asks.  
"I dabbled. I wanted to work for National Geographic. You know that problem we were talking about? I figured out a way to solve it."

"You could just cap them," Rio suggests. He can't for the life of him figure out what sort of scheme needs photo developing chemicals. It could be a way of screwing him over, but why would she be here if that was the case?  
"Not an option. Also, I'll need two of your guys- the biggest and scariest, and whoever keeps breaking into my place. Only, I want him to put something there, not take things away."  
"It'll come out of your cut."  
He jolts as something creeps up his pantleg.  
"Sure I couldn't trade for it?" she says, low and husky. Unfair. Sure he's had a crush on her for a bit. He just tries to keep business and his personal life separate. Also, she's his mother's age. Which should be a turn-off, but inexplicably is not.

He swallows, and she takes the opportunity to steal a forkful of fries off his plate. If she wanted fries, why not just order them, instead of the soup?  
"For the chemicals, yeah. But my guys have to get paid. Why not just go to a drug store or somethin'?"  
If he catches any of his guys sniffing around her, he's gonna skin them alive.  
"I'd rather do it myself."

He scratches his head. "Fine. I'll send someone over with the chemicals today. We'll figure out a way to meet up in a couple of days. And you're filling me in on the plan then, so I can keep everyone from getting arrested."

"I have a perfectly good plan."  
"I keep hearing about them. The spa thing worked out pretty well- they didn't even know they'd been robbed for a week. Who came up with that one?"  
"Annie."  
"Figures."

She leans a little closer to him. "You know, if someone outside your group took a potshot at us, it'd end very badly for everyone. If you can, make sure someone keeps an eye on Annie."  
He blinks. "You don't need protection?"  
"This guy's tried to hurt Annie before. He doesn't care about me, except as a way to get to her, and he doesn't know a thing about Ruby."  
He raises his hand. "Fine, done. I'll have someone shadow her."

She grins. She pays her bill, and starts humming. Rio, just because he's curious, googles it, and finds out she's humming something called 'suicide is painless.'  
(It only makes sense a few days later.)  
00  
"Beth!" Ruby roars, opening the basement door.  
"Light!" Beth snaps. "You're going to ruin my negatives."  
"Mind telling me why you want Sarah to send you nudes? She's eleven, Beth."  
"You remember Boomer, Annie's manager from hell?"  
"Well, yeah."  
"I figured out how to ruin his life and how to get Mary-Pat to stop blackmailing us."  
"And this involves naked kids?"  
She dries the negative and hangs it up on the line.  
"I ask again, why?"  
"Beth," Annie wails from the top of the stairs, "What did you do to the sound system?"  
"I had Sadie hack it, why?"  
"Look, I adore Linkin Park, but the other women don't."  
"It's only for a week."  
"Hey, you're getting back into..oh, no. I thought you burned the negatives."  
"I lied. Look, you hate Boomer, right?"  
"Absolutely," Annie says warily.  
"And we're all sick of Mary-Pat, right?"  
There's a mumbled assent.  
"I have a plan for getting both of them out of our hair. Boomer goes to jail, and Mary-Pat stops bugging us."  
00  
"So, what was that about the negatives?" Ruby asks, as she drives Annie to her house.  
Annie sighed. "We had a youth pastor, when I was five and Beth was fifteen. Total creep. Looked down shirts, groped some girls. Finally, Beth decides she's done with him. She saves up baby-sitting money, pays me and my friends, and some of their siblings, five bucks a pop for 'artistic pictures' that she said were for her portfolio. "  
"And by artistic you mean.."  
"Totally, completely, and utterly naked. Mom and Dad should really have suspected something when the giant clamshell showed up. Anyway, she supplements some of it with magazines, and then she spreads the whole kit and caboodle around Creepy McHotpant's office, knowing that McHotpants's wife is obsessive about cleanliness. So, cue big giant fight, and then the police get involved, and then there are onions and a sea of visine, and dude gets arrested and can't ever work with kids again."  
"Visine?"  
"Beth can cry at the drop of a hat, I can't. You should ask her to cry for you sometime, it's pretty impressive."  
"Oh..oh, no. Seriously? That's what she wants the pictures for?"  
"Guess so. I mean, it worked once."  
"And how does Mary Pat come into it?"  
"That, I don't know. She's probably gonna pretend Boomer worked for us."


	2. A candy-coated soft shoe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, the season finale was gutting. Anyway, here's me basically ignoring that entire last half. Again. I kinda think that both Beth and Annie hated each others husbands even before Annie got divorced and Dean cheated on Beth. Also, I imagine Annie just hating it every time Rio flirts with Beth.

“Marks, get yo ass in gear!”  
The shout was accompanied by vigorous knocking. Annie checks through the spyhole. The speaker was a young black woman, a shade lighter than Ruby, and she didn't recognize the girl. She had cornrows in tidy beaded braids, and the beads clicked aggressively with every gesture she made. She's dressed a little oddly; black pants, white blouse.. and is she actually wearing a suit jacket?  
Annie opens the door, but blocked the threshold. She knew better now.  
“Who are you?”  
“I work for the same guy you do.”  
Annie raised an eyebrow. “Did we mess up again or something.”  
“No, no I'm here to protect you. Let me inside and I'll explain..”  
“But I have to..”  
“I got here two hours early. We have time. Cover story is I'm sent from corporate HQ, so I'll just be piddling 'round the store while you work. Oh, yeah, and I'm staying here 'till further notice. My name's Janelle.”  
“Last name Monae? You better have some better threads if you're going to pull that off.”  
The girl laughs. “You old. How do you know anything about our lady Monae?”  
“Let me show you,” Annie replies. She opens the door to Sadie's room.  
“Oh, my god. And no, it's Freeman. For this gig anyway. My sis works for Rio, he just hires me when he needs someone to fill a role. At least this time I don't gotta wear stilettos.”  
Annie raises an eyebrow again. “And what exactly does your sis do for Rio?”  
“Chemistry. She's a whiz, got a full ride scholarship. Speaking of,” the girl rummages through her bag and hands a canister to Annie. “Sis calls this the Churchill Special. It's basically bear spray with an added kick. I don't know what-alls in it, but she put a guy in the hospital with it last fall. And I got a lot more where that came from.”  
“Wait, if she has this fancy scholarship..”  
“Colleges forget that people gotta eat. So, Rio keeps her in grocery money, and she tells him what does what, where to go for chemicals, and what to stay away from. Like fentanyl. That's nasty shit.”  
Big sis had a few other interests too, but Janelle kinda tuned out when she rhapsodized about ergot, or this really gone thing the Carolina Reaper can do to brains, or synthesizing peyote. To be fair, Janelle had her own interests- aside from acting, she'd read a ton of books on counterfeiting and could recite all the ways various con men and counterfeiters had gone wrong and what they'd done right.  
“And what do you do?”  
“Various things. Arm candy, bodyguard, lookout, character witness. I'm an actress..or, well I wanna be one. But the gigs I can get don't pay the bills, so I work. Beats the heck out of waitressing. Speaking of, I gotta get my face on- can I use the bathroom?”  
“Uh, sure. Down the hall, on the right.”  
“Cool,” the girl says, picking up a small, bulging bag. “And towels?”  
“Next to the bathroom, in the hamper.”  
She uses the girl's absence to text Beth.

What the fuck, Beth.  
The answer's quick.  
Oh, your bodyguard showed up. Good.  
No, not good. Why do I even need one? What did you DO?  
I'll explain later.

Annie's very worried now. Rio isn't Santa Claus- Beth probably either lost all her cut for the month or is paying another way. And what other currency does a guy like Rio accept? Pinky fingers? Thumbs? Firstborn children?

The girl comes out again, and Annie nearly drops her phone. Now she looks a lot older and much more corporatey. The braids are covered by a wig, and bound so they don't clack.  
“Wow,” Annie says.  
“Told ya, I'm an actress.”  
00  
Janelle absently paws through the stuff littering the backseat, fetching up a notebook, a binder, pens,  
and tablet.  
“Hate when Demon uses my car; he always messes with my tunes,” she mutters. She punches the radio button and a guitar cauterwauls over the speaker, followed by booming drums. She made a face.

“So, you like living here?” she asks, jerking a thumb at the apartment building while Annie gets in.  
“I don't not like living there,” Annie hedges. “It's better than being homeless, you know.”

Janelle shrugs. “A'ight. I just figured Rio's lady would have better digs.”

“I thiink there's a tiny misunderstanding here. I'm not 'Rio's lady,'” Annie says, emphasizing the quote marks. It's not that Rio's ugly, far from it, but holy shit, no. He reminds her of a biker dude she used to date, only Rio makes that guy look mellow.

“Oh. Demon said this was a rush job for Rio's lady, but since Rio was there, he didn't get into specifics. And I figured since you were the only one who's single..”  
Annie sighs. “Beth. That's who he's got his eye on. And since Beth wants to take down Boomer, my dickball manager, he's indulging her.”

“Ah. And dickball manager..”  
“Is making my life hell because he saw one of my tats when we robbed the store. Also, he tried to rape me.”

“Oh, this gonna be fun,” Janelle crows. “How can I help, aside from breathing down his neck by pretending to be from HR?”  
Annie held up a flashdrive. “Everything on this, needs to be copied onto the Fresh and Fine's computer. Boomer uses that thing all the time.”

“Know what's on it?”  
“Noope. Probably the nastiest shit Beth could find online. Also, I need your phone. I need to send dick pics to..uh, Sadie and Sarah, and since Sadie knows my number, I can't send it direct.”  
“You got pictures of his wiener?” Janelle grins.  
“Yup. Pretty gross, so I'm sorry for making you do this.”  
Janelle slid out her phone. “It's fine. I'm gonna give these tunes another try. That last one had a tasty hook.”

00  
“Living under a speeelll 24/7, a familiar hell and an unknown heaven,” Janelle sings as they pull into the lot. At some point, the kid cranked up the bass, and she drives fast, so Annie is now white-knuckled, half-deaf and about twenty minutes early. Hooray. If this is someone's idea of a bodyguard, this is a sick joke.  
00  
She almost smirks when she catches the expression on Boomer's face as Janelle explains her reason for being here, and sets up in the office. She calls some of Annie's co-workers in from time to time, works on the computer, and eats lunch. Just a normal work day. Ok, maybe Rio knew what he was doing after all. His usual thugs would stick out like a sore thumb. She still has doubts about the merit of a bodyguard who looks like a stiff breeze could blow her away.

Annie wanders in when she's talking to Boomer about this 'all natural' complexion enhancer.' The girl catches Annie's eye and nods. Ok. Computer bombed, dick pics away. Now for the hard part.  
00

“What was that shaker you gave Boomer full of?” she asks as they drive to Beth's place.  
“Oh. Arsenic.”  
Annie snorts.

“No really. It's all natural, and people used ta use it for makeup. It's not my fault dickball didn't ask what it was. He probably won't die, as long as he don't try to eat it by the teaspoon.”

One of Rio's guys has the dog, already leashed, and straining. He hands the leash off to Janelle. Rio's parked in the most comfortable chair, while Beth is stationed on the couch. Janelle points to Beth and mouths 'her?' Annie gives a minute nod. She doesn't like that Rio's group thinks Beth is his lady. It's getting to the point where she doesn't want Rio and Beth to be in the same room. 

“There's a dog park about ten minutes away. Stay there for an hour, then head back,” the thug rumbles.

“Demon, I'm gonna get shot.”  
He pointedly looks at the bright purple vest she has on. Annie hadn't realized that was a bullet proof vest. Smart kid.

“Fine,” she grumbles, taking the leash. “Kevlar don't protect against dog bites.”  
Beth chuckles. “Zap's a golden retriever. He doesn't bite.”

Janelle nods, but she still handles the leash like she'd been given something radioactive. No one says a word while she leaves.  
“How old is she?” Ruby asks.  
“None of your business,” Rio replies. “Major pain in the ass, but she does good work. You got the photographs?” 

He's kind of wondering what he got himself into. Again. This life used to be predictable. Ever since he got mixed up with these three, nothing goes quite as planned. His usual employees are from the hood and know the rules.

The ladies have no idea where the lines are, except for Beth, and he's either going to have to give her a job, off her- or maybe just kidnap her. She might make a good L.T.- his boys are awesome, but they ain't very organized. With her, he could maybe break out of the tri-state area- national, even. Of course, banging one's second isn't considered professional, but the rules are whatever Rio says they are, so he could get away with it.

Beth handed over an envelope. “His address is on the back. So, what did you decide?”

Rio grins like a shark. “I get you for this next weekend. Park the kids wherever, make excuses to hubby, pack a bag, and I'll send someone to get you.”  
Beth bites her lip. That is about what she expected. Give him an inch and he'll take a mile. It's partly an actual demand and partly a loyalty test. But a whole weekend! Rio pries the envelope open.  
“Fine,” she grinds out. Actually it's more than fine. She shouldn't like him, shouldn't want him, but that's how it goes.

He might've been satisfied with maybe a couple of calls and a few blowjobs. But she wouldn't be.

“What.. Beth, no,” Annie protests, half rising from her seat. Ruby pushes her down. “This is how you end up on the six 'o clock news!”

“Annabel,” Beth snaps, adding three snaps of her finger for emphasis. Annie shuts up at their old signal.

“Jesus, what exactly do you think I'm gonna do?” Rio growls, leaning forward. “This ain't Fifty Shades of Grey, bitch. I won't leave so much as the shadow of a bruise on her. Wait a minute, what the fuck? These are kids.”

“Yes, I know, I took those pictures,” Beth says, making an effort to control her tone. “I'm in them too.”  
“Most of these kids can't be older than six,” Rio mutters. He returns them to the envelope, curiosity visibly squelched. He likes to think he has some limits.

“Six and a half,” Annie points out. “Beth said she was taking them for her portfolio. She was about fifteen.”  
Beth grins. “I was taking care of a problem just like I am now.”  
Ruby shakes her head. “I still say this is overkill.”  
“No such thing,” Beth replies.

Rio eyes her with a bit more interest. None of his previous ladies would have done anything like that. Young Beth musta been quite the thing.

Annie remembers. The youth pastor..he hadn't actually done anything worse than sneak a few touches. But Beth figured he was working his way up, and decided to torpedo him before 'worse' happened to her, her friends or her sister. Annie was always a little scared of Beth growing up, but that was the first time she was actively terrified of what her sister could do.  
00

Agent Turner likes to eat lunch in the park. He knows there's a dog park nearby, but it's still a little odd when a golden retriever sidles up and parks itself in front of him.  
“Hey boy,” he murmurs, tossing the dog a chunk of chicken. “Now, where'd you come from?”  
The dog ambles over, within arms reach. Turner reaches down and checks the tag. Huh.  
He grabs the dog's collar and clicks a handcuff into the loop. Then he links the other pair, and clicks the open link onto his own hand. It's the crudest leash ever, but it works.  
“I hope you know 'heel,” he mutters. Neither Beth nor Dean are at the dog park.  
There's a rustling in a nearby tree which sets off a lot of dogs. He fumbles for his phone.  
00  
“Agent Turner, hi,” Beth says. As though she doesn't have a houseful of goons, isn't a criminal, and didn't just agree to..well, Annie's not sure exactly what Beth just agreed to, and Ruby's looking more worried by the minute. She better get her sister back in one piece. She doesn't trust Rio as far as she can throw him.

Right now, she's settling for glaring at him, in the forlorn hope that he might spontanously combust.

“Oh..he got loose, again? Yeah, I was running errands and I still have to pick the kids up. Can you keep him for an hour or two? Oh, no, just give him something to chew on, and he'll be entertained for hours.”

Demon's cell phone bingles, and he starts tapping on it.

“Hmm, no, I don't think we have panthers around here. Maybe it was a porcupine. Goodbye,” Beth says.

“What was that?” Rio demanded.

“Zap got loose. Agent Turner found him, but he thinks Zap was on his own. We need to keep him under that impression.”  
“And the kid?”  
Beth shrugs. “He didn't say.”

“She's still in the park, boss,” Demon reports. “Went up a tree when she saw the agent.”

“A porcupine, really?” Ruby asks.  
“I had to say something,” Beth points out.  
Rio sighs. “Let's get our girl, then. Annie, you're with me.”  
“Huh, why me?”  
“Cause she's supposed to be your bodyguard. Mrs. Hill, later, and Beth..” he clicks his tongue, “Don't forget the deal.”  
00  
“Seatbelt, and mind the bag,” Rio says as he starts the car. “The Chemist never sends her sis out without gear. Could be hydrochloric acid or mustard gas in there, for all I know.”  
“Gee, thanks. As though I don't already have enough nightmares,” Annie mutters, belting herself in.

“Where's this coming from?” Rio asks. “You're usually quiet.”

“I don't like rapists, and I don't like being used so you can get what you want.”  
“Beth offered,” he shrugs. “I was just seein' how far she'd go.”

He'd honestly expected more of a fight from Beth than he'd gotten when he'd called her bluff. Maybe she was getting tired of this weird little dance. Should be fun. He's tempted to push more, but he's pushin' his luck pretty hard already.

Annie, for her part, is trying to process this. She knew Rio wanted Beth. She'd just been trying to pretend it wasn't mutual. Beth had been feeling hurt and angry, and Rio paid a lot of attention to her.Add that to a really long dry spell, and it was no wonder Beth was teasing Rio and had developed a few odd kinks. 

Annie could've lived a long and happy life without finding out that her sister had developed a sudden yen for being stripped at gunpoint.

“Hey, whatever happened to the guy? The first time Beth did this?”

“Oh. He shot himself four months later. Just couldn't deal, and the cops were pretty unsympathetic. No one believed that the photos had been planted, and Beth wasn't going to tell 'em.”

“What about you?” he asked, drumming on the steering wheel.

Annie barks out a short bitter laugh. “Beth threatened to drown me if I said anything.”  
00  
“That tree,” Annie says, pointing. 

“You sure?”

“Closest one to the dog park. I'm guessing she's not from this area, and she doesn't know her way around if she doesn't have her map or phone.”

It's a worryingly good guess. Chemist and her sister are Chicago girls, from his old neighborhood. He knew their dad, so he keeps the kids away from most of the business. Turner doesn't know they exist. 

“Yo, Portia. Get your butt down here!” he roars. That's not her name, but she'll recognize it.

Hell if he's gonna use her real name. He's gonna be sorry to lose her, when she grows up and goes legit.There's a rustle, and the kid appears. She grins and flips herself from branch to branch, until she finally lands in front of them.

“That ninja warrior shit is gonna get you killed,” Rio says darkly.  
“What, you'd rather I got arrested? Decided to go without sis's bag o' tricks?”

Rio jerks his thumb toward the car. “Headphones on and in the back.”  
“You drive like a little old lady.”  
“And when was the last time you saw a granny getting arrested for speeding, hmm?”  
“Portia?” Annie asks.  
“Annabel. In the car.”  
She hates that he's using Beth's signal.  
Both of them hated their full names, so they avoided using those unless it was an absolute emergency or one was stepping over the other's boundaries.  
00  
Rio does in fact, drive cautiously. Very cautiously. Annie's tempted to make a crack about turtles. If it was anyone else, she would. She still can't fathom what Beth sees in him. Aside from the fact that he's the first guy who's paid attention to Beth in years, though it's not good attention.

“So..why this guy?” he asks. “Why not just shoot him, if he gettin' out a line?”

“Shooting him would be too easy,” Annie says, fidgeting with her hair. “And, as for this guy- well. Screwing with anything that's Beth's is a monumentally bad idea. She goes so far past 'bitch' you can't see her with the Hubble Telescope. And that guy's tripped every button she has.”

“I should be watching my back?”

“No. Attempting to spook me and Ruby doesn't count as hurting us. And waving a gun- well, you know that doesn't work on her at all.”

And Rio, just now, appears to be an exception to Beth's usual rules. She's not gonna tell him that.

“What did he do to her?” Rio asks. 

He might just waste this guy himself, though it's fun to watch Beth work. 

“Wasn't what he did to her, it was what he tried to do to me. And you'd think he'd have gotten the point after two days in the treehouse, but he didn't. Too bad, so sad, we'll burn down his sad little life, with the problem child getting a front-row seat. Speaking of..”

She fishes out a pen and two sheets of paper, and writes on them. Rio's going to have to ask about that thing with the treehouse- did Beth really hold a dude hostage for two days?

How? He could figure out the 'why,' which explains Annie's behavior right now. Never mind that at this point, he's pretty sure Beth is more than willing. As far as Annie's concerned, he can do no right, but she apparently hates hubby just as much. Or more.

“Give this to Demon. He seems like the biggest guy you have. In two days, he meets us at this address, and escorts his lovely 'sister' on a date. Don't read it yourself. Problem child has kids, and we don't need her getting spooked. This one, you can read.”

He reads it when he lets the ladies off, by the light of the dashboard. 'Kiss the Girl' warbling from the stereo, because the kid loves to mess with him.

"Beth's not going to listen to me, but you knock her up and I'll gut you like a fish. Also, call me anything but 'Annie' again, and I'll chew your ears off. "

He smirks. So, Miss Marshmallow has some bite after all.


	3. I tried going easy on you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is another chapter, because I am apparently ridiculous. Suggested listening: Sugar Free by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. It's uh, rather longer than I wanted, but, honestly the last few paragraphs are my favorite.

In some bizarre slight-of hand, Janelle's car got back before they did. Janelle lifts out a little soft sided cooler, checks inside, nods, and zips it shut.  
“Wait, what is that?”

“Dinner. I left grocery money and a list, just in case. Hope you like scrambled eggs.”  
“That sounds good. But seriously, how do you get gangsters to run errands?”

She shrugs. “I grew up with this stuff. And I asked politely.”  
Annie shakes her head. It astonishes her that this kid, only a little bit older than Sadie, has been living such a different life. Janelle takes the lead, checking the parking lot. She does take the gig seriously. They head up the stairs and then to the elevator.

“Moom!” Sadie wails, sprinting across the hallway and burying her face in Annie's shirt. “Oh, god, it's so gross, I can't believe someone would dooo that!”  
“Oh, sweetie,” Annie says, patting her daughter's back. Greg approaches, and Janelle's fishing in her purse.

“Stop,” she hisses to the kid. “Don't mace him.”  
“Greg,” she says quickly. “I didn't know you were coming. What's wrong?”  
“Some guy sent Sadie a picture of his package. Can you seriously believe this city?”  
Annie's cell phone goes off. She sighs and fishes for it, checking the number. “Sorry, can we get inside? I need to answer this.”

“Hey,” Janelle says. “Why don't you help me make dinner? It's Sadie, right? Those threads are stylin'.”  
“Yeah?” Sadie says, stopping the sniffling. “You are?”  
“Janelle Freeman. I work with your mom.”  
The two girls head off. 

“Ruby?”  
“Oh, thank god. You ok?”  
“I am remarkably ok. And I am so sorry about freeing Willy.”  
“You should be. Stan's furious, wants to go arrest people right now.”  
“That would be..an interesting identity parade. How's Beth?”

“Like she's running a fever. I think she meant to lose.”  
“Yeah, that's what he said. I dunno if I believe it.”

“That she wants him? I do. Seriously, every damn time he's over, I want to turn the hose on 'em. I blame you.”  
“I didn't mean-well, this. Beth never does anything the easy way.”

“Like you?”  
“Hey. Mean.Look, squirrel girl's cooking dinner and Greg's here, so I can't really talk. Tomorrow, maybe? We need to meet at Beth's anyway.”  
Greg shoots her a look, Annie shrugs.

“Busy day,” she says.  
“And what was that about your sister?”  
She sighs. “Don't ask, please. Beth's been..odd, lately.”

00  
“Seriously, the roaches were the size of my middle finger!” Janelle says, gesturing furiously.  
“Oh, grooosss,” Sadie crows delightedly.

“Yeah. Thank god for exterminators, even if it means I need to crash somewhere else for a bit. But at least I now know someone else with good taste in music.”  
“I can't believe you like Monae too. None of the kids at school do.”

“Whaaat? Hang on,” Janelle darts to the window, peeks out and darts back. “Sorry, just had to check that we were still in Detroit, and not some howling wasteland.”

Sadie cracks up.  
“Bet they don't even know the Bosstones exist. Or either of the Joplins. Or.. jeez, this is a wasteland.”

“Ok, I know Janis Joplin.She's amazing. But the others?”

“The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Great tunes. Scott Joplin's the other one- invented ragtime. Ragtime, ska and rap, I am allll about those.”  
“What's ska?”

“Oh my god,” Janelle says, hitting her phone.  
Annie thinks she should interrupt, but she's never seen Sadie like this. 

“LAST HURRAH NAH-UH, do it again,” roars the smartphone's tinny speaker.

“That, oh little lamb, is ska,” Janelle says, when the song's finished. 

“Cool,” Sadie says.   
“Yeah, but you can't really appreciate it unless you move to it. Let's go out to the living room. And oh, yeah, I know what you need. Suspenders!”

“Really, with a bow tie?” Sadie asks.  
“Trust me. If our lady Monae can pull it off, so can you. Man, if I'd known bowties were a thing at your age, I'd have worn them all the time. I spent most of high school in a zoot suit.”

“Oh, wow,” Sadie says, looking at the picture. “Didn't anyone say anything?”  
“Yeah,” she shrugs. “But you wanna know a secret? Doesn't matter what you wear, or how you do anything, as long as you got brass. Brass in your ears, brass in your walk, brass in your veins. Now let's get you those suspenders and then resume the seminar.”

“Wow,” Greg says as the two skitter off. “I thought Sadie needed her mom but I think she needed that instead. Is there anyway you can keep Ms. Freeman?”

“I wish,” Annie says. “She is something.”  
She kinda wishes the kid could stay too, but it's risky. She can't keep letting the lines bleed over, like Beth is. Six months and they're out, but it's been two already, and she's beginning to doubt. 

“New hire?”  
“Yeah, this week. Manager was making her miserable, so I started chatting with her on the breaks. Let's clear the table.”  
“Really, Annie, I'm getting a little worried. That manager of yours is..”

“It's being fixed,” she says, with a little heat. “Anyway, the new business is taking off. Beth's going to a seminar this weekend- oh, yeah, I'll be staying at her place then. Someone has to wrangle the kids.”

“Dean's their dad.”

“Dean is a complete and total fuckup. They might as well be raised by a cardboard cutout.”

00

“Ooh, pour me some of that,” Janelle coos, eyeing Annie's whiskey.  
“I seriously doubt you're twenty-one,” Annie says. Janelle smiles sardonically. Annie sighs and pours the girl a stingy measure of whiskey. They have to get up early tomorrow- they're having breakfast with Eileen, who actually answers her phone now.

“How long you ladies been working for Rio?” she asks.  
“Couple months now, why?”  
“I been working for him for.. oh two, three years now, since my sis bought me in. It's pretty clear that this ain't yours or Ruby's scene. Beth, I'm not sure about. It's pretty unusual for a newbie to offer skin; and Rio, he usually prefers cash.”

“Well he and Beth..I don't even know,” Annie shrugs. “They've been circling each other since the start of this whole thing. Actually it's kinda odd that Rio knew where to find her at all.”

“Not so hard,” Janelle disagrees. “Lady bought a one-way ticket to California. In cash. You gotta leave an address for that, and Rio's got people at the airport.”  
There's definitely some sort of thug network, Annie thinks darkly.

“Right, she bought it for that slut at the dealership. I mean, I bought stuff, but I returned it immediately- and Ruby spent it all on doctors and pills for her daughter.”

“Hmm,” Janelle says, thoughtfully. “Hey, aren't they going to need a new manager at the store? Seems to me corporate ain't gonna be too happy that one of their manager's dicks is out all over town.”  
Annie shrugs. “Probably. Why?”

“Dickhead's not one of ours. I figure someone above him is, though. Now, here's an idea; if you take this guy down, spook the problem in the bargain, you three are in a sweet spot. Beth's shown she's willing to put her own skin in the game and that all three of you are sharp operators who can get things done. I mean, that's how you negotiated before, right?”

“Um. Not exactly. Beth just pointed out that the press would have a field day if they shot us, and if we could please have a chance to repay our debt. There wasn't a lot of negotiation going on because of all the guns.”

Janelle groans. “Oh, honey. No. This is a business. Rio's a business man. He all about negotiation. Beth understands that, that's why he listened. You ignore the guns- they just trying to rattle you.”

“Can we please not talk about that! It's just..ugh, so gross.”

Janelle shrugs again. “So, that hole in management? Wouldn't it be so much easier for Rio if he had someone with eyes on the vault who knew the score? A smart savvy lady who's proven her worth, put her time in in the store, and wants to move up?”

“You mean me?”  
“Yup.”  
“Robbing the store was my idea in the first place!”

“So, you knew all the security holes, and can plug 'em right up. Any security updates, you know about 'em and can pass them on. You also agree to a cut in your pay for a little while-you'll need to step back a bit from Beth's operation while you're fixing dickhead's mistakes.”

“Ok. Say I go to Rio with that. What do I get, besides manager or possibly bullets?”

Probably bullets, Annie thinks, considering the reaction to her last big idea. Ok, admittedly, it was stupid, so maybe Janelle's right about not panicking. 

If she has a plan, a good one, this might work. She's never really thought about managing the store, other than a deep-seated conviction that she could do better than Boomer. On the other hand, so could a parrot.

“You and Mrs. Hills go ride-or-die for, say, a year. It's risky, 'cause one of you fails, it's like both of you screwed up, and you have to trust each other absolutely. At the end of the year, Mrs. Hills cashes out. She never saw anybody, she don't know a thing, she goes back to being a good citizen. Your contract goes until you get promoted or Rio rolls up operations here, and then you never see him again.”  
“I didn't know that could happen,” Annie replies.

“Sure. It happens alla time. Me and my sis, we ride-or-die for the next two years. End of that time, sis is a respectable college graduate and I should have enough cash for college and getting myself established. You keep thinking there is a line here, like once you do something criminal you can't go back.”

“And Beth?”  
Janelle shakes her head. “She'll have to make her own choices.”

It's a confirmation of what Annie already guessed. If Beth is willing to go this far to get Boomer, Rio might well wonder what she would do to him if he doesn't keep an eye on her. It's so easy to make Rio the villain, but Beth has a nasty streak too. 

Annie learned years ago that the sister who brushed her hair today was completely capable of pushing her down the stairs tomorrow, or playing William Tell, or holding her under the water until her lungs felt like they were bursting. 

Growing up, Beth was a master at little cruelties- and some big ones- to Annie and the neighborhood kids, even some adults. At least Annie was safe from everyone but Beth. She had a long fuse and a knack for planning, and making her mad guaranteed misery down the line. That Beth never left, she was just sleeping.

But she worries about how far Beth'll go. If she's really willing to abandon her kids and her life for this thrill. And at some level, Annie's convinced that it's her fault for waking the beast.

“I probably should warn you about Eileen,” Annie says quickly. “Uh, you know that Avenue Q song, 'Everyone's a little bit racist?'”  
“How racist are we talking here on a scale of one to southern belle?”  
“About a six- like 'I liked my maid very much even though she was...”  
“'A nigger?'” Janelle smiles. “I run into that more than you'd think. I'll just let you two chat and eat my breakfast. I don't even have to be at the same table. Wake me up early so I can put my face on, okay?”  
“No problem. Um.. I hate to ask, but are you like..”  
“No, I'm not Rio's kid,” she chuckles. “He ran with my pops. Rio woulda been ten when I was born.”  
00  
Beth always wakes up early. Even though most of the days are exactly the same, there's always too much to do. But today she's just buzzing. She hardly needs the coffee, though she dutifully swallows it down. Mary Pat's going to get lesson one today. 

She remembers this old, low, guilty thrill. The one that had her getting up at five and sneaking out to screw up the classroom locks at her high school with nothing more than a couple large boxes of toothpicks and pliers. Or that she felt when Annie started to wail, so she could clean off the shelves at the local drug store. Or when she aimed at a girl she'd once called a friend and drew back the bow- she missed, of course, killing her wasn't the point. Or the one that sat up and sang when she met Rio.

She'd had reasons- well, excuses, for her actions, but oh, she'd missed this buzz.

She had wanted this once; a family, a home. Now she can't remember why. Her phone buzzes- Annie confirming that she picked up Eileen for breakfast. She breathes, deep and slow. The plan is proceeding- they can do this. 

“Beth, are you ok?” Dean asks.   
She feels a flash of annoyance. She doesn't want him anymore and she wishes he'd go. He isn't hers anymore and she's fed up with the responsibility.

“I'm fine, why?”  
“You just look feverish.”

Feverish isn't the word. She looks excited, maybe even aroused. When was the last time she looked like that?

“Look, can you manage the kids today? I promised to meet Mary-Pat at the pool today. With the new baby, she doesn't get out much.”  
“Oh..ah, sure. Have fun.” 

“Oh, I forgot. I'm going to a seminar on Friday, and I won't be back until Sunday. Maybe Monday. Annie will be coming over to help, try to get along.”

He blinks. God, he is soo dumb. Why did she ever want this man?

“Beth, that's kinda short notice.”

“I know,” she huffs. “Ruby actually won the trip when she registered us at the Better Business Bureau, but she has to stay around for Sarah, and Annie can't, so I have to go. Think of the opportunity, Dean.”  
“You'll call.”  
“Packed schedule,” she lies. Rio probably isn't going to let her call. It strikes her as absurd, but she tamps the laugh down.  
00  
“Thanks, Beth. You know, I get the feeling Annie and Ruby don't like me much now,” Mary-Pat natters, barely keeping pace with Beth. 

“Really, I wonder why not?” she says, pleasantly, trying to keep the edge out of her voice. Up until now, she's been trying to shield her, but the demands are outrageous. 

They slip into the water. Beth starts counting laps. Mary-Pat's not a good swimmer, she notices. Good. That'll make this lesson all the more memorable. Four, five. She slips behind Mary-Pat, sculling, hardly swimming.They reach the deep end. Ten feet straight down. She can do this.

Deep breath. Hold...and pull. One Mississippi...the fool is struggling, she'll just waste more air that way. Two Mississippi..she tightens her grip, vaguely aware of commotion above. Drowning people do this, drag whatever they can latch onto to the bottoms with them, it's normal.

Three Mississippi, she thrashes just enough to drag them deeper down. Four Mississippi, the commotion increases. Five Mississippi...she pushes off the floor of the pool. 

Six Mississippi, her lungs are burning, but the air is sooo close.Seven- she sucks in a deep deep breath, aware of someone grabbing her and placing her hands on the pool's ledge. She hangs there gratefully, just sucking down air. Mary-Pat gulps greedy, noisy breaths. She nods to the lifeguard and he goes back to his place. A man who was swimming in another lane bobs uncertainly, and then flips onto his back and sculls away.

“Isn't air nice,” she says, smiling sweetly at the victim.  
“What in the..Beth, you tried to drown me!”

“You needed a lesson, this is part one. Now, let's go shopping. You need a dress for your date.”  
“But..I don't want one!”

“What you want doesn't matter,” Beth tells her, ice in her voice. “You are getting in my way, and believe me, Mary-Pat, that's not a good place to be. My boss is getting impatient, I am getting annoyed, and you just might get us all caught because you're being stupid and selfish.”  
“Your boss?”   
“We'll talk about this in the car.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok then. Well, I hope you all enjoy and somehow made it to the end. Thanks for all the comments. I kinda wrote this in a day, so it may be a little wonky.


	4. Cross your ts and dot your is

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the plan moves forward, Annie finds herself faced with an uncomfortable choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theme for this chapter and the next one is "You can't Win," by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

I do hope you'll give Leslie another chance, dear,” Eileen quavers. “I'm sure your friend is very nice, though. That brother of hers certainly sounds like he's trying to do his best for her.”

She's a blackmailer, he's a rapist, and the brother's probably a murderer, she thinks venomously. 

But she smiles and nods and helps Eileen into the van that'll take her back to her apartment. It's too bad, really, she actually sort of likes Eileen. She's an acquired taste, like really old, bitey rye whiskey.

If her stupid grandson had taken after her, and wasn't a total creep, Annie might be dating him today, and Beth probably wouldn't be out for his blood.  
She checks the time on her phone. She has the emails ready to go and presses send before she can chicken out. One of those emails is to the district manager; she attached her resume and application last night. The other is to an email address that Janelle swears is Rio's. Telling him that she applied for the job, and she'd like to negotiate.

I'm asking a crime boss for help in my career, she thinks. Sweet Jesus, what is my life?

00  
“Grab me that bag in back,” Janelle asks. She's deleting every bit of contact info from their phones. She already filched the SIM card from Annie's phone.

“Are you sure we should be messing with that?” Annie asks.

Janelle chuckles. “You are too easy to spook.”

Annie opens the bag, and blinks at the contents. A container of baby wipes, bleach pens, gummy bears, a couple salt shakers, a lighter, a couple of glass containers with eyedroppers, a bag of grayish metallic powder, which probably, she decides, isn't coke, four phones, and six pairs of leather gloves and a set of rubber gloves. Also a collection of small tools, wrapped carefully in soft leather.

Janelle collects one of the vials, the baby wipes and a pair of the gloves. A strong aroma of vinegar wafts through the car when she unscrews the eyedropper.

“Put the rubber gloves on. These phones pick up prints like anything. I'll stash 'em in Boomer's locker.”   
00  
Rio's kind of surprised when an email from Annie shows up in his queue. He idly drums on the desk. Actress's prints are all over this. He'd tell her not to coach on his dime, but he knows it's a waste of breath. Kid's like her dad, nothing annoys her like wasted potential. And she does have a point. The manager has outlived his usefulness- except, perhaps as a distraction.

Rio sighs, looks up a number and punches it into today's burner.   
“Hey, it's me,” he says, when the call is picked up.   
“Hey stranger.”  
“Used to be 'hey handsome.'”

“I call a different guy that now, I haven't heard from you in months, and we broke up a year ago. But you didn't call me to reminisce.”

She's a little annoyed with him, not without cause, but at least she didn't hang up.

“You know the manager of that store that got robbed? I think you're going to need to replace him.”

“Won't say I'll shed any tears. You got a candidate?”

She knows the one. She's been trying to get him fired since she became district manager. Actually, Boomer's one of the reasons she'd tipped Rio off when the place went on sale, figuring that Boomer would make a nice fall guy. That was, of course, before she and Rio broke up.

“Check the applications. There'll be one there from an Annie Marks.”  
“Ah, new girlfriend?”  
He almost snorts at that. Annie would sooner sleep with a rattlesnake. 

“Doing someone a favor. She was involved in that rat problem I sorted out for you.The felony thing is bullshit, I'm having it ironed out. She's been attending a lot of seminars lately, that's why she has all those absences.”

“Sure, sure, why don't you throw in proof that she's the last Romanov too, if you're bored. Gotta admit, this is a whole new level of brass; she ought to get the job for her chutzpah alone.”

“Oh, you know me, never a dull moment.”  
“Should I come up this weekend? Get the full story?”

“I'm busy this weekend. Hot date with a redhead who's a bit territorial. Also, I kind of need an airline ticket. Got a kid who needs to be back in Chi, fast. Like Sunday.”

He kinda wants to explain, but doesn't know where to start. Beth isn't some hookup, definitely not his girl, but is something entirely else. And he really doesn't owe an explanation to his ex. She threw him over 'cause she couldn't deal with the criminal life. That's fine, but her new guy better treat her like gold.

She makes an exasperated noise. “Ask for the moon, why don't you.. Ok. Done, pick it up at the airport. Should I fire fuckhead?”

“Wouldn't bother. He'll be dead or in jail by the end of the week.”

She types on the keyboard. “Ok, Ms. Marks has an interview. Should I ask her for the full story?”

“That'd be best.”

“Alright then. You have fun.”

00

It's easily one of the weirdest shifts Annie has ever worked. To her secret satisfaction, Boomer looks a bit ill.She sneaks a couple of minutes to talk to Boomer and set up a date. She explains the guy friend as an older gentleman who'd like to meet Eileen. There are all kinds of wrong about going out for a double date with someone's grandmother, but she's not going to be showing up for it. Let Boomer think she forgives him, it'll make it all the sweeter when things start crashing down.

She notices Tyler hovering around while she's talking to Boomer. Now that she thinks of it, why didn't she ever invite him out for a drink or something? He's sweet and he's single as far as she knows. No, bad Annie.

Janelle is hard at work ruling the office with an iron fist. At one point, she calls Boomer in and has him sign a few things. Then she bawls him out for not having a cell phone cleaning station. Annie thinks Janelle is having a bit too much fun, but not many teenage girls get the opportunity to be the boss for a few days. No wonder she's throwing her weight around and terrorizing the bag boys.

00  
“If anything happens, I'm not the one who's telling Rio,” Ruby groans. 

Janelle's investigating the treehouse and is currently hanging over the edge of its roof.  
“Beth, exactly how much coffee have you had?” Annie demands.  
“Starbucks doesn't count as coffee,” Beth insists.

“Give. Did you talk to Mary-Pat?”  
“Oh, we went for a swim,” Beth says, with that small smile.  
“Oh, tell me you didn't do it.”  
“Do what?” Ruby asks, watching Janelle. The kid's abandoned the treehouse in favor of doing chinups on the swingset. “Damn, that kid's strong.”

“That creature from the black lagoon shit.”  
“I didn't keep her under that long. Barely a minute.”

Annie sighs and massages her forehead. “Beth, no-”

“She deserved it.”

Annie sighs again. She won't dispute that. 

“You are scaring me, the pair of you,” Ruby says finally. “So, tell me about the kid. Real name, anything?”

“She says her name's Janelle. And she's like, I dunno, thug royalty. Seriously, her car got back to my place before we did, and she got someone to buy groceries. Her dad was like Rio's mentor or something.”

“I have to admit, she isn't what I was expecting,” Beth says. Janelle has hooked a foot into the weird plastic rings that every set has and is lifting herself up with her arms. Annie's whole spine hurts from watching her.

“She blends pretty well. Speaking of, do you know where I can get bear traps?”  
“Why?”

“I am not cool with Rio knowing where I live. It's bear traps or living in my car.”

She changed the locks after Boomer got in, but she's not sure that's enough.Rio waltzes in and out of Beth's house like he owns it, and she knows Beth never gave him a key.

Janelle tumbles into the kitchen as soon as she finishes that sentence, and she's very glad the girl only heard the 'living in my car' bit. She's keenly aware of where the kid's loyalty lies. Janelle may like her and Sadie, but she has history with Rio.

“Mrs. Boland, you ought to rent that place out. It's amazing, it's a waste to keep hostages in it. And may I add, this is a lovely cage.”

“Thank you,” Beth says uncertainly. “I don't think I'll rent the treehouse out.”

Janelle shrugs. “Can I use your bathroom, get this gunk off?” 

She's still wearing the 40-year-old makeup, and without the wig, the effect is jarring.

“Sure. Right up the stairs, to your left, use any towel with a D on it.”

“Thanks,” Janelle bolts, managing to stuff a granola bar into her face as she does so. Annie feels an odd maternal pang. This kid is just a baby.  
“No crumbs,” Beth yells. There's an emphatic “MMPHGR,” but Annie has no idea what that means.

“Before we go any further,” Annie says. “Beth, when I said 'you need to get laid,' I didn't mean 'lose a game of sex chicken to scary gangster bro.'”  
Beth grins. “I didn't lose, Annie. I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want him. Seriously, sex chicken?”

“Well, what else should I call it? You two have been basically daring each other to make the next move since you met. I thought you two were going to go for it when you pulled that thing with the necklace.”

“Told you so,” Ruby mouths.

“But you better come back. If you're so much as a minute late, I'm gonna hunt him down.”  
00  
“Ok, walk us through this,” Beth says, when they're all settled. Janelle's picked up some cards somewhere and she slowly fans them out across the table, and then fixes her eyes on Beth. Annie realizes she's treating Beth the same as Rio, which is odd. Or maybe not. Beth's in charge, at least here. Is it bothering her that Rio's crew is beginning to defer to Beth? Yes, yes, it is.   
“I applied for manager of the Fresh and Frugal,” Annie begins. “I have an interview Tuesday. It might be awkward if anyone checks the date I applied-”  
“They won't,” Janelle says.  
“So, there's step one. Problems: we kinda need to split up. Ruby and I negotiate as one person, basically, while Beth, you have to work things out on your own. Though I would really appreciate it if you confined the negotiations to cash.”

“No promises,” Beth hums. 

Her eyes glaze over like she's a kid with a crush. Annie swears she's going to coat the living room with legos. And while she's at it, she's totally shortsheeting Beth's bed. 

“It's called a ride-or-die contract,” Janelle explains. “Both of you get rewarded if you do well, but you can't coast. One of you makes mistakes, both of you get dinged for it.”

“And we're going to need to expand the time frame,” Annie says. “I'll probably be working for him for a year, unless he flips the game on us.”

Janelle gives an approving nod. Her thumb scratches the underside of a card.

“A year,” Ruby echoes. “Oh, hell, no. I can't do this for a year.”  
“You won't have to,” Annie says. “I promise.”

“What about Beth?”  
“I'll be fine,” Beth says.   
“One question, why does Rio care who manages the Fresh and Frugal?” Ruby asks.  
“He owns the franchise,” Beth states. 

She's thought about it since she realized Rio and Boomer didn't, in fact, know each other. The only explanation was that Rio knew someone higher on the food chain, or had simply bought the franchise without bothering to check it out. Possibly both, she could think of a lot of reasons why anyone above Boomer would be happy to see him in jail or dead.  
Janelle nods.   
“Yup. Bought it lock stock and barrel, all legally too. But the previous franchisee stuck him with a rider; she chose the manager, not him. Which totally annoys the district manager, who's been trying to get him fired for years now.”

“I knew we should have knocked over a gas station,” Ruby mutters.

“That'd be worse. A lady from the Triad owns all the gas stations along the highway from here to Canada. I don't know why, I just know who owns 'em. She also owns every waxing place and nail salon around here.”

“Wait, Siu Wai? Kinky? She's on my archery team,” Beth says.

Which explains a lot about the archery team, Annie thinks. Archery is not supposed to be a blood sport.

“She's Henry's best friend's mother, he's over there all the time.” Ruby says. “Wait, Kinky?”

“That's what she likes her friends to call her.”

“Well, I'm not calling her that! Now, Miss Janelle, explain why Beth can't go in on this ride or die thing.”

“She put skin in the game when she let one of Rio's boys crash here, which meant she raised the stakes. You and Annie didn't ask and never negotiated directly. If Mrs. Boland goes ride or die, she'd lose what she's built up, and you'd all have to start from scratch. That said, Mrs. Boland, you could have bargained the fee down.”

“I could've but I didn't want to,” Beth says.

The girl grins. “What I figured. Could we talk alone?”

“Sure. Annie, I put the kids' schedules upstairs, in Emma's desk. There's a couple of things there that need to be moved into my room.”  
“Sure,” Annie says, motioning to Ruby that they should leave.  
00  
She and Ruby made idle chit-chat out by the curb, until Janelle speeds out, Beth watching her go with lips pressed in a thin line. The audience with Queen Beth has concluded, she thinks. 

At least Ruby's agreed to keep quiet about what they found upstairs, though Annie left a pointed note that Beth doesn't need half her underwear drawer. Rio'd probably be happy if Beth went commando, and Annie's going to try and forget she ever thought that.Ew.

The gun is a different matter, but she's going to have to ask Beth later about that.

“What did you talk about?”

“What happened to you, that doctor who moved the spa things for you three, and then I gave some advice. She didn't like what I had to say, but I had to say it anyway. She has an instinct for wolf games, but she don't know the rules, and she overplays her hand.”

“Wolf games?”

“This sort of game.”

“You know, you could have asked me about..well-”

“I didn't know if you wanted to talk about it.It was probably pretty scary. I almost got shot once, and that was terrifying, and it fucks with your head something fierce. Sorry, I know it's not the same.”

“No, no, I think I got it. Er, how did you..”

“Daddy's partner, before Rio, thought he could take over. Figured Dad would roll right over if he threatened me and my sister. Mom got him good, but the memory doesn't go away.”

“That..wow, sounds rough. So about that doctor?”

“I asked 'cause I wanted to see if I knew the name. I'm not the network, like Dad, but I usually know the where and the which of the what-she-did. And I know this guy. He's not the guy you go to see if you want to get better, unless your idea of 'better' is a hit of Oxy. His license is dangling by a thread, too.”

Annie grins. “How does a bit of burglary before dinner sound?”

Janelle gives an answering grin. “How're your lock-picking skills?”

“Could use some work.”

“No problem, I'll be happy to teach you,” she says, getting in and starting the car. Then she flips a book into Annie's lap. “Read Nerissa's lines in scene 2, I'll start you off. 'By my troth, my little body is a weary of this great world..”

"Shakespeare?"

"Hey, I haven't had time to practice. Line!"

"Ok, ok.."

My past lives have so much to answer for, she thinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Janelle's quoting from, respectively, the Ballad of Lost C'mell by CM Kornbluth and the Merchant of Venice.


	5. Cross your fingers when the print is fine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It liives. Ok, real talk, I need some feedback here. Someone requested that I post some chapters dealing with the weekend. Now I could do that and bump up the rating. Or, I could post the weekend chapters as a side story for you lovely, dirty minded people. Let me know.

“Ok, now turn,” Janelle breathes. Annie's got the picks wedged firmly in the lock. “Sllowwly.. there we go.”  
The door swings open an inch, and they walk in. Annie goes to the computer, turns it on, and sits down at the keyboard. She remembers to keep the gloves on. Janelle riffles through the file cabinet.

“Phone,” she whispers. Annie hands it over, types in Dean's name in the search bar and starts emailing the files to herself. Beth, ever the overachiever, set up new email accounts while she was busy making them look like a corporation. 

A while ago, when it turned out Dean used the same password for all his accounts, which even Annie knows is stupid, she took the opportunity to hack his Facebook and Linked-in accounts, and changed the passwords. Like he's ever going to guess 'teenytinyslutpanties1053r.'

Annie's not quite as vindictive as Beth, or as vicious, but she does like to leave a mark or two.

Janelle flips through the files and takes pictures. Annie frowns. She knows that Sarah had to undergo test after test, but what it looks like here is that the doctor just billed for the tests without actually doing them. And Dean paid for that? Oh..no, he's not getting away with it this time. If he won't do the decent thing, and fucking leave, she's going to ruin him. Because it'll be kinder than what Beth would do. 

When all's said and done, Annie doesn't quite want Dean dead. Humiliated, yes, broken yes, but not in any way he can't recover from.

“You about done?” Janelle whispers. 

“Yep, think I have it all.”

“Great. I think I want Indian food. As long as FBI honey ain't around.”

Janelle's phone vibrates against her hip. She checks it as they shut the door and relock it.  
00  
Rio's a little annoyed. First, it's the space. Annie lives like this? His living areas could be described as..well, he prefers minimalistic, though Crisco'd say 'Spartan.' Price of having to move every few weeks. Or on occasion, having to bail through the front door, the back door, or the fire escape. (That was not a good night.) He keeps things tidy, mainly out of habit, and it's so much easier to find the shit you want when everything's got a spot.

He takes a desultory look through the fridge- four eggs left, and a smattering of vegetables, and then starts on washing dishes, because he needs something to do. 

Actress hates when he blows up her phone, so he only sends two text messages. After he's managed to free up some dishes, he pokes around a little. Sue him, he's curious. He's never been to either Annie's place or Ruby's. Ruby he avoids for damn good reason- aside from being married to a cop, that woman will straight up murder him if he gets within a mile of her daughter. Not that Annie or Beth are any less protective of their kids, but Sarah almost died a couple of times.   
Annie's bedroom is a bona fide disaster area, not that he takes more than a quick peek. Annie's daughter's room is surprisingly organized.There's a huge poster of Janelle Monae, and a few other ladies are hanging out on the walls, (musicians, he thinks, but he's really not up on the pop scene) and a pair of shoes poking out from under the bed. 

The clothes are tucked away, and she hasn't been around for a while. The odd thing is that there's no photos of friends- there's some pictures of her, and some with her cousins, from family vacations, he guesses. Kid has a shitton of books, mostly geared to adults and organized alphabetically. He's tempted to take maybe one or two, but suspects it'd be noticed. How is this Annie's kid?

Janelle's duffel sits on the foot of the bed, zipped up and ready to go with a stuffed dog standing guard. He smiles at the metronome perched on the nightstand. He can't believe she still has that.

00

“I feel like we got too many samosas,” Annie mutters, grabbing a bag.

“No such thing,” Janelle says cheerfully, looking around the lot. Suddenly the cheeriness fades.  
“What's wrong?”

“Was that bright orange Civic there this morning?” she asks.

“No, I don't think so. I would have remembered. Maybe it's someone's guest? It's not Boomer's.”

“Could be someone else. Stick tight behind me, and stay quiet.”  
00  
The kid opens the door, and Annie can sense her relax a little.

“About time you showed up,” Rio drawls.

“God-fucking-damnit,” Annie mutters savagely. But very quietly, because Rio still scares the living piss out of her.

She meant next week. Beth may be very comfortable with Rio haunting her house, Annie isn't. 

And Janelle's about as much good as a hankie right now- Rio's her boss in the first place. But she guesses he's here about today's email, and fleeing screaming into the night isn't really a good start to business negotiations. 

“Doesn't take an hour to pick up dinner, and I know that restaurant's only twenty minutes from here,” he begins.

Janelle shrugs. “Had a few errands to run along the way, and would you believe the car had a flat? Speaking of cars, that orange thing out front needs to be put back where it came from. Or out of its misery.”

“You don't want it?”

“I appreciate your generosity, but I like my wheels. Cops caught me with that, they'd bust my ass on principle.”  
00  
“So, why are you here?” Annie says. After they're all settled with food and plates, and a beer for the adults. Not a beer each, a half. Annie guesses Rio isn't a big drinker. That or her taste in beers is trash and he's only drinking it to be polite. Janelle tries to sneak one, but a look from Rio is enough to make her put it back.   
“You said you wanted to negotiate, and the kid's gotta be paid.”

Deeep breath. She can do it. There are no guns visible, so he's at least willing to hear her out. And she has to make this count. She doesn't want to be under Rio's thumb for a year, but he's marginally better than Boomer. Sorry, Sadie, she thinks.

He still would kill her if it seemed like a good idea, but at least he wouldn't rape her. It still feels like she's selling Beth out. But she can't save Beth. She can maybe get Ruby and herself out. 

“Right,” she says, poking her naan. “I want to go ride-or-die with Ruby Hills. This applies for a year, when you roll operations up here, or if Ruby has a medical event in her family, like a surgery or a death. When that happens, Ruby gets to bail. She keeps all the money she's gotten, hands over the counterfeit stuff and you never contact her or her family again. In return, I take a paycut for two months, I pass on any information about security updates at the Fresh and Frugal, and I keep an eye on the vault for you once I get the job as manager. And I still help Beth out and run errands for you when I'm free. If you leave the city or harm any member of my family or the Hills family, we're done.”

He notes the 'any medical event' rider. If she wants to give Ruby an easy out, fine by him. She probably thinks he doesn't know about the Hills's problems.  
“Sorry, you're negotiating for a pay cut?” 

Annie takes a deep breath. Don't let him get to you, she reminds herself. Brass all the way down.

“I'll have to step back from Beth's operation for a bit. Say a 20% reduction.”

“Ok. Why just Mrs. Hills, though?”

“Beth negotiated with you on her own. She should continue that way- consistency's important, right?”

Rio shoots a glance at Janelle. He recognizes that tactic, it's straight out of her old man's playbook. 

“Fine,” he says. “If you checked your email today, there should be a note from the district manager. She agreed to interview you. You also need to talk to the previous franchise owner, I can give you her name and number. She insisted on screening any candidates for manager.”

“Ok. I'll get right on that. Waitaminute.. Eileen was the franchise owner?”

Rio shrugs. “Yeah, that's the name. I never negotiated with her directly. The kid's mom is my silent partner, she negotiated the purchase for me and gets 40% from the store. How do you know her?”

He offers her his hand to shake, and she takes it. He must be in a good mood, he never does that. 

“I ran into her a while back,” Annie shrugs. “We meet up from time to time. Small world.”

“No shit,” he agrees, sliding an envelope over to the kid. She counts it out and frowns. Annie admires the economy, as she flicks through it with a thumb. There's an airline ticket tucked in among the bills.

He also slides a hundred over to Annie, who frowns at it, but doesn't take it. It's probably a test.

“It's so you can get some new threads,” he says, grinning. “Don't want your tits hanging out, right?”

She is gonna kill him, but she takes the money anyway. There's a card with an address on it too, which she hopes is a clothes shop.   
“So, I pick Beth up at four?”

“No, Demon picks Beth up at four, takes her to the address. He'll call you when he gets there and you pick her up at five. And our problem child is behaving now, so please don't bother her.”

“Just checking. How'd you do that?”

“Ask Beth. And incidentally, if you roll up things here, make sure Beth has something to do. She was driving us all nuts last month. She gets terrible ideas when she's bored, like tagging buildings or that whole extreme dare thing in high school-three kids in her class ended up in the emergency room.”

One of those kids had been Beth, after an attempt at scaling a barbed wire fence went wrong.

“I'll keep that in mind,” Rio replies.

The kid tucks away her envelope.

“I figured I was gonna drive back,” she says. 

“Annie'll look after your car, and it'll get back safe and sound,” he says. “Anything you leave, it'll get back. Verdad. And leave the vest, it'd just be weird on a plane.”

That fucking car. It's a deathtrap, it's older than the kid is, and she spent more on the sound system than she did on the car. But it's hers and she'll defend it til it dies on her. Or until she can get a Lotus Elan.

“And..this is over by a hundred and fifty.”  
“We had a bet I was supposed to settle, and the fifty is baby-sitting money 'cause you'll be helping to herd Beth's kids.”

“I'd forgotten.”  
“I didn't. Walk me out?”  
Janelle nods. “Annie, lock the door and don't open 'til I knock. Shave and a haircut, two bits.”

She's too cute for words, really.  
00  
“What do you think of Beth?” Rio asks, in Spanish. 

Janelle shrugs. “Queen of Diamonds. I'd be careful, hermano. I want to like her, but wolf games are rough and she's used to playing with marked cards. And I don't like that kids are mixed up in this. I do like working with them, these ladies have the best games.”

She's frowning in that way that suggests she's not sure what she's looking at. She likes categories, people she can maneuver and manipulate, and Beth is none of those things.He bets those two don't like each other much. Beth's too used to pretending she's exactly what she appears to be and the kid sees pretty clearly for all those stars in her eyes.

And kids..he's not sure what happened with her father's old partner, but the kid's got some bad memories from that time banging around in her head. He pretty much lived at her dad's house during his late teens, and every once in a while, she'd be up at four or five in the morning for days in a row, probably never slept at all. That's why he bought the metronome.

“And Ruby?”

“She wants out. She might not like to leave her friends, but she will if they tell her to.”

He nods.The kid could be better than Daddy, could be better than him with the way she can figure people out, but she'd rather have her name in lights and a star on the Boulevard. 

“So where were you?”  
“Mmm, picking up something. If something happened to frighten Mrs. Boland's hubby out of the state, or scared him into getting a divorce, you wouldn't mind much, right?”

He sighs. And that is the occasional problem with the kid. Nine-fucking-teen and thinks she knows everything. She's smarter than a lot of adults, and sometimes takes that as a license to run other people's lives for 'em. Annie was just the sort of person she could push every which way. 

“I gave you one job, and that's looking after Annie. Stay in your lane, Valentine, and let the adults work things out.”

He adds a rough shake to her shoulder for emphasis.Having some little snip trying to mess with Beth's family could ruin everything he's trying to build here. Even if the snip's his family.

“Someone gotta think around here.”

“Yeah, that's my job.”

She sighs. “This is an awful lot of work for just one weekend.”

Rio grins. “Never said it was 'just one weekend.' This is just to start. Show Beth I can do everything better than her worthless husband.”

If her husband couldn't appreciate what he had, Rio felt no qualms whatsoever about stealing his wife away for a while and seeing where things went. Especially since Beth practically had one foot out the door anyway.

She scrunches up her nose. “Remind me never to fall in love.”

He just chuckles. 

“So, I gotta get some groceries. Any ideas for meals?"

She rolls her eyes. “Listen to you, bro. Next thing I know, you'll have a permanent address.”

He snorts at that. “If I'm settling anywhere, it's someplace where there's no snow and no FBI.”  
00  
Annie sits numbly for a moment before getting up to put away the remains of dinner. She's kind of annoyed that Rio did her dishes- that man really needs some hobbies besides breaking into places, messing with people's things and creeping on Beth. 

She honestly wishes Beth had told her not to rob the store, that she'd listened to Ruby's doubts, because look what she's gotten them into. It's always the same; every time Annie steps a bit over the line she loses, while Beth can skip across those lines and never notice. Annie's already lost Sadie. And someday Beth will lose too, and she's terrified of all the things that could happen then.

This thing with Rio? It's not going to end well. 

She'd like to believe that Rio's just playing into Beth's fantasy, that he's not serious, but he's always watching Beth at the meets. More than watching, tracking her every move. When Beth makes the drops alone she spends twice as much time with Rio then Annie and Ruby combined do- heck, Annie leaves her motor running, she's in and out so quick.

If he is just playing, and drops Beth as soon as he gets what he wants, that'd be worse, because Beth will destroy him for sure. And that'll kill her, because she does kinda maybe love Rio in her way.She just keeps Dean close so she can bat him around when she gets bored. For now.

But if he's serious, Rio won't just let Beth walk away from this, from him. He's not going to stay for anything, either, Annie's sure of that, no matter how he feels about Beth. And Beth's always been torn in two; she loves her kids, but hates being trapped. Annie never felt trapped by Sadie.

One way or another, Annie's gonna lose Beth, and she's not sure what she'll do without her big sis. 

“Hey,” she says, when she lets Janelle back in. “What happened?”

The kid gives her a small grin. “I got called out. Could be worse. Say..Mrs. Boland, does she like Rio?”

“Like is not the word I'd use. Fascinated,hypnotized..she's been the most alive I've seen her in years. Is Rio, like serious? Because if Beth finds out he's got like three girlfriends and five kids, she isn't going to take it well.”

“No kids, as far as I know, and he's always been serious in everything.”

That should make her feel better, but it really doesn't help.


	6. Chapter 6

Beth wakes up at 530. She should sleep for another half-hour, but like yesterday, she's too wired to do that. She re-sorts her clothes, and then finally chooses today's outfit. A red bra, lilac panties, square cut button down red blouse with flowing black pants, and then she pulls out that sapphire necklace from the jewelry box. She'll put it on after Dean leaves. 

God, it feels like high school, only worse. She knows nothing about him really, Rio's probably not even his real first name. It's not love, love doesn't burn like this. All she wants is a little stolen time. But Annie's right, this could well be the stupidest thing she's ever done, and that includes the time she paid two French guys to kidnap her and Dean on their honeymoon. Rio makes her crazy, that's all. It's something about the way he looks at her, like she's under a spotlight.

She puts some nylon stockings on too and checks the effect. It looks..well, business like and very chic. She doesn't really know what transportation Rio's arranged, and the skirts are very nice, but change is good, right?

She fishes out the fancy high-heels that have been sleeping in the back of the closet, tries them on, stuffs one set in the bag and puts the ballet flats on for now. She's already packed the slinkiest bits of underwear she has, a silk robe, a dress, two skirts, three blouses, and another pair of pants. Though how long she's going to be wearing any of those is anyone's guess. 

She also packs a few books, just to keep the lie going, and she might actually read them. (Three of her old favorites by Highsmith, Cain and Woolrich, the new Nesbo, and the Small Business Survival Guide.) A smattering of toiletries and the makeup bag are stuffed in, though she's annoyed to find that Annie's gotten to the makeup bag. She'll pack the laptop later. The phone goes too, though she's planning to remove the battery.

She reminds herself that she absolutely has to talk to Kinky today. Besides being on the archery team, Kinky's the head of the neighborhood watch, so she should definitely get a heads-up in case Dean and Annie get into it, again, and so no one calls the police on Janelle. Kinky usually doesn't leave until ten and is back home early, she even has a home office. 

Beth's not sure what to think about the fact that one of her friends heads up the local Triad operations. She's known the woman for a decade, had her son and daughter over for playdates with Emma and Jane. It certainly explains why the police haven't been called, despite Rio showing up so often at the house that Beth's beginning to think she ought to charge him rent. Or just move him in- stop that, brain. It's just a fling. It's nothing serious for him, she needs to keep that in mind.  
00  
“Now remember, I won't be here when you get back. I have a seminar in Joliet, and I'll be very busy,” she tells the kids. “I'll be back on Monday, after school. Aunt Annie will be staying for the weekend, and she brought a friend.”

She makes sure they all go off to school with a hug. She brushes Dean off when he tries to peck her cheek. He only wants her because someone else does, and if she's stupid enough to forgive him, he'll just cheat on her again. She doesn't know if he ever even loved her.  
00  
The weirdest thing, is Beth wouldn't have minded as much if Dean's affair had been with Kinky. The woman was unabashedly bawdy, fiercely intelligent, and would have made an interesting rival. Oh, the marriage would still be in trouble, but at least it would have shown that Dean had some taste.

“Good morning,” Kinky says. “How's the corporation?”

“Just fine, thanks. And thanks for walking me through the setup.”

“Us small business owners have to stick together. Wow, you look nice. Business conference?”

“Weekend seminar. I'll be missing archery practice this Sunday.”

Kinky grins, a little crookedly. “I'll make some tea. The special kind, not the swill your boyfriend gets.”  
“I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about,” Beth mumbles. 

“Orchid scented, direct from China. Costs an arm and a leg and you can't get it in the states. My business associates get the cheap stuff. Not that they can tell the difference.”

Kinky measures out the tea, and a steaming lightly scented floral cup is placed under Beth's nose. She's not really a tea drinker, but the aroma is amazing. She takes a few cautious sips.

“So..uh, the seminar. Annie will be staying with the kids, and she's brought a co-worker along. A teenage girl who needs someplace to stay for a few days, she won't be any trouble. Also, there may be a guy prowling around here looking for Annie, so keep an eye out for that. Oh, wow, that is good.”  
“Armed?”

“Maybe? He doesn't carry, as far as I know, but I found out it's far easier to get a gun than you'd think.”

Which is why there's a gun tucked in her underwear drawer, in the teeny-tiny safe she bought. The ammunition is in a shoebox. She usually keeps it in her purse, but not today. A lady has to have some secrets. 

Oh, shoot, she'd better text Annie the combination. Granted, Turner isn't going to give Boomer a gun; he only agreed to give her the permit because she was sooo very concerned about Rio coming back around. Sucker.   
“You have one?”

“Yes, I own a gun now.”

“Smart. So about this seminar- I run a lot of them, and I didn't seem to get an invitation to this one.”

“Uh, it's a combination ladies night and seminar. Lots of networking.”

“Honey, I think the only networking you're going to be doing is with the muy guapo chico who's been hanging around your place. I've been trying to get him in bed for a couple years now, so lucky you. Boy likes a lot of snap with his sugar.”

Every so often, talking to Kinky is like a surprise X-ray. She has made Annie blush, which is no small feat. Kinky's recitation of the Aristocrats joke ought to be banned by international treaty, and she's always had an eye for attractive young men. (And so does her husband.)

“So, I'm right. Dean screws around on you, so you took to robbing stores, and threw in an affair for kicks?”

Beth fights down a blush.

“Well, that and he lost most of our money. I took the household accounts away and he can't get into them now. The secretary is now in LA, and I hope she stars in the next Deep Throat.”

The one thing she takes comfort in is that Dean can burn through his own money all he wants- she set up some separate accounts with the money from the robbery and the current operation, and the mortgages are safe from him. And he'll never find her hiding spots. She's not going to dignify that crack about the affair with a response.

Kinky laughs. “Wow. You're a hard lady, Beth, and I wish I'd recruited you first. I probably can't compete with the benefits-” she emphasizes the word with an obscene wiggle- “but we should collaborate sometime. How do you feel about sharing?”  
“Not interested. Not even a tiny bit curious.”

Oh, yeah, a threesome with two criminal gang leaders. That couldn't possibly go wrong. 

“Oh, that's too bad.Well, maybe tasty boy will let you work on my campaign for mayor. If the Russkis can play politics, so can I.”  
“I'll ask him when I see him.”

Right after she asks him when he was going to tell her about the triad leader living in her neighborhood. A heads-up would have been nice.  
“As long as we're here,” she begins, “How do I put together a severance package?”  
00  
Beth spreads a little counterfeit money around before meeting Ruby for lunch. She arrives a little early and uses the time to catch up on forum business and send the administrative passwords to Sadie. She should maybe move the domain, again.

“Hey,” Ruby greets her. “Getting into flame wars again?”

“Ugh, just one. This particular idiot has to have been dropped on their head repeatedly. The 1962 remake of the Big Sleep was inferior in every way.”

Ruby rolls her eyes. Beth's taste in movies is a constant source of bemusement to the other two.She got banned from movie night a couple of times, and Ruby and Annie bolted from the theater halfway through John Wick. 

Generally if a film has buckets of blood, Beth will either own it or be lining up to see it. Annie always figured that Beth read fairy tales and myths because as a kid it was the only acceptable way to sate her bloodlust.  
“So, what have you been up to?”

“I got propositioned by our friendly neighborhood watch leader. She wants to run for Mayor.”

“Oh. Good for her, I guess.”

“And a threesome.”

It's mean of her, Beth knows, but it's always funny to watch Ruby go pop-eyed like that.

“Not with Dean, I'm guessing. I hope you turned her down politely. What about that mayoral run?”  
“I said I'd give her an answer when I got back. Ooh, I could get my studio back.”

Ruby laughs. “You did make pretty good bank on that.”  
“I know. Oh, and I'm firing Mary-Pat.”  
“Um, excuse me?”

“I think she's figured out what the stakes are, and that we're the only things keeping her from meeting a bad end.”

“She has a family,” Ruby hisses.

“So do we. Besides, I'm in the perfect position for a quick round of bad cop, worse cop.”

“We need all the people we've got.”

“So we recruit a couple high-school students. Give them some hygiene stuff to sell to their classmates with their cut, and they'll be too busy enjoying their new found popularity to wonder where the money comes from.”

“I..no, we're not doing that! Oh my god, what is wrong with you?”

Beth shrugs. “I'm just tired of this. What did being good ever do for us? We need to be ruthless and we need to be smarter.”

Ruby shakes her head. She doesn't understand that the whole thing- love, marriage, family, is just a stupid trap. Worse, she's happy in that trap, while Beth's trying to gnaw her leg off. High school Beth would be screaming in rage. She understood that the very best thing you could be was hated. Beth forgot that, and now she's paying the price.  
00  
Rio's trying and failing to concentrate on the paperwork from his handful of legitimate businesses. He keeps a couple of restaurants, a club, two liquor stores, two bars and a coffee shop on the books just to keep the IRS from looking too closely at him. They got Al Capone on tax evasion- they're gonna have to work a lot harder to get him. 

Also, they're very useful places to gather intelligence. The baristas, the cashiers, the bartenders, the bus boys and girls, the waitresses, the waiters- they all got ears, and they're happy to pass along gossip. James Bond ain't got nothin on his girls and boys. 

Cris is muttering into the phone. He has that particular harried look that suggests he's talking to Sofia, his twin sister, and Rio's only other family member in Detroit. The three of them are more like siblings then cousins. Their grandma more or less raised them; Rio's never known his father, his mother, stepfather, auntie and uncle worked all the hours in a day. (Well, not all the hours, he has a half-brother and a half-sister, and Cris has a little brother.)

Sofia, five months older than Rio and thirty minutes older than her brother, ruled the roost when they were kids. Every now and then she tries bossing them even as adults. The worst part is, she has enough on them that it works. 'I'll tell your momma on you' shouldn't work on a grown-ass man. 

“What was that about?” he asks.

“The cabaret show. You did remember about that, right? Sofia's had a hell of a week. First Lissy breaks her ankle, then they get a replacement four days before the show, so they have to rework the whole lineup, and unless there's a blizzard or a flood, she's gonna expect the both of us to show.”

“You told her I have plans?”

“She says the girlfriend's welcome. You weren't going to just hole up with Miss Beth for the whole weekend?”

Actually, yeah, that was exactly the plan. He really doesn't want Beth meeting his family. Especially Sofia. Both Sofia and Cris want him to settle down, mainly because they hope it'll take the pressure off them. (Also Sofia's getting tired of inventing girlfriends for Cris.)   
Heck, Rio himself isn't entirely adverse to the idea of settling down, he just hasn't met the right person at the right time.Cris has kept his mouth shut on the whole subject of Beth, though he clearly wishes Rio would just get over her already. 

Rio thinks Sofia and Beth'd either be soul sisters or hate each other on sight, and he's not sure which possibility would be worse. Sofia's gotten along with most of his girlfriends- except for that one crazy girl who stole most of his appliances and his pet cat.   
“If you wanna go out, I can take care of things here,” Cris offers. 

He's too polite to suggest what Rio really needs is a dunk in the lake, but his tone implies it.   
00  
Annie's wandering around in the loading docks. Janelle sent her to find blinker fluid, which she figured was code for 'stay out of sight until the shift ends.' So she's doing just that. If Boomer hasn't figured out that the products Janelle's been asking the staff to find are totally bogus, Annie's not going to tell him. 

“Ms. Marks?”

Annie nearly jumps. Oh, it's just Cat. Caterina North. Annie doesn't know her very well; Cat doesn't socialize with her co-workers, and her attitude- a coolness glaciers wished they had, is somewhat intimidating. She's only as tall as Annie, but somehow, she manages to loom.   
“Ms. Campbell sent me,” the kid says.

“Oh, is it three already?”

Cat nods. “Hey, Ms. Marks? You ever get the feeling that something just isn't right here?”

Annie tries not to act startled. “Anything in particular?”

“That robbery, for a start. You were scheduled to work that day, weren't you? But you called in sick.”

“That's right. Food poisoning.”

“Sure. And then there's the response. We shoulda been knee-deep in police, and both Tyler and the manager shoulda been fired, yes? And they weren't, and we weren't. And there's something kinda weird with the credit readers. Someone's been messing with them. Finally, there's Ms. Campbell. If she is forty, I am a fucking hat.”

“Language!” Annie chides, automatically. “And what makes you think she's lying?”

“She don't move right. First day here, she was zippin' around like anything, and then all of a sudden she slows way down.”

“Age is a mysterious thing.”

Cat stares her down with a skeptical look. Annie remembers why she never liked cats. She last saw a look like that on a lynx that was behaving like something out of a horror movie. The thing wouldn't back down, at all. 

“What are you trying to get at here?” Annie asks.  
“I need out,” Cat says.  
“That's easy. Quit.”  
“No. I need out of the States,” the girl says. “And to do that, I need fake papers- or someone who knows how to get by without papers at all.”  
She is discussing immigration fraud with a high school student. How screwed up has her life gotten? 

“What?”

“It's a matter of time before La Migra finds me. I want to leave on my own terms. Problem is I need someone who could smuggle me out of the states.Whoever's using this store as a money laundry could maybe help me with that. I don't know who that is. But I figure you do.”

Annie sighs. “I don't know that I can help you. Janelle could- maybe? But, trust me, kid, this is not a world you want to get involved with.”

“It's better than being shipped back home,” Cat says, with a defiant tilt of her chin. “Just one run through the tunnel is all I'm asking.”  
“Wouldn't your parents..”

“I'm adopted. Kidnapped might be a better word for it. My parents are still alive, but I ain't seen 'em since I was two. The Norths, they think I'm an orphan. And I wouldn't leave a dog in El Salvador right now.”

“I'll see what I can do,” Annie says finally. 

As they leave the store, Annie notices that Boomer's a lot paler, and he keeps shooting wary glances at Janelle. The kid's been scaring him again.  
00  
There's one area where Rio's crew has developed an interesting blindspot, Annie reflects as Cat and Janelle chat in rapid-fire Spanish. Not one of them has figured out that, hey, these three suburban ladies might actually speak Spanish. Admittedly, it's a slender thread to hang onto, but, hey, it's a thread.

Beth's Spanish has atrophied (though, weirdly, her Japanese and French haven't), Ruby's grasp has always been shaky and is limited to mostly food related words, but Annie's fluent. She just pretends like she isn't, and no one's noticed the bluff. It's worth remembering that Rio isn't on their side. Beth would know this, if she was thinking with her brain.

Janelle finally dismisses Cat, and the girl races back into the store.   
“What was that about?” Annie asks, to shore up the lie.

“Girlfriend's been stealing from our credit tap. She's saving up money to get herself to Canada and then send for her brother and sister. Her parents won't leave El Salvador, too stubborn.”

The irony is too thick, Annie thinks. Cat's trying to get her siblings away from gang violence, by making a deal with a gang.   
“Couldn't she send them tickets to Detroit?”  
“Uh-huh. She'd have to pay a coyote, and even then, word is the welcome mat's rolled up. Even if they get to the border, they'd likely be detained. She might be caught too; she's fair game. Problem is, Rio don't play that game for a damn good reason.”  
“And the reason is?”

“Most smugglers that'll take people are head cases, to start with. It's usually not worth it to fuck with Border Patrol that badly. Maybe if she behaves, Kitty-cat might earn herself a passport, but she'd be responsible for her own transport. Mr. Crisco will be in charge while Rio's..busy. I'll take it to him, and maybe we can wrap it up in a nice tidy bow.”

“Would they kill her?” Annie asks, horrified.

“No. Hackers are too useful.”  
00  
Annie wonders when Beth stopped locking the door when she's home alone. Not that it makes any difference. Nick Cave is banging on about the mercy seat in the kitchen.

“That's cheerful,” Janelle observes. Kid ain't seen nothin' yet, Annie thinks. Nick Cave, Johnny Cash and 'Harper Valley PTA' were things Beth played when she was cheerful. If opera was playing, Annie would have run. 

“Please tell me you haven't spent all day primping,” Annie teases. Then her eyes bulge as she notices what's spread all over the table. “What is that?”

“I met Ruby for lunch, and then I realized I was over by our old high school. So I retrieved a little money from the old shelter.”

She hadn't, though she'd taken a second shower, changed into a skirt and fixed her makeup. Ugh, climbing chain-link fences was a bad idea at her age.

“A little..hey, those aren't dollars.”

“I was waiting for the yen to rebound. I never had a chance to exchange it in Tokyo, and then their economy crashed.That reminds me, Janelle, are you armed?”

Janelle grins and lays out four throwing knives, a switchblade, and then she lifts the necklace she always wears over her head. Well, Annie thought it was a necklace.It turns out to be a little revolver on a chain.

“They're basically toys,” Janelle says, “But they suit a kid like me just fine.”

“Hey, have you heard from Trish lately?” Beth asked Annie. “I was thinking of moving the forum. Sadie's looking after it for me this weekend.”

“I haven't heard from her since..oh, February,” Annie says. “I think she's still in California.”  
“Me neither. I suppose she's busy with a new girlfriend or a new job.”

Annie nods, hoping that is the case. Trish O' Rourke, (never Patty) was Annie's best friend growing up, and Beth's loyal minion.   
They drifted apart after high school, since Trish was busy learning how to code while Annie was learning about two am feedings.

Among Trish's multiple character flaws are a completely broken flight or fight response, authority issues, and a tendency to get in outrageous trouble. Like, 'hey, me and this crate of vodka need somewhere to chill,' or 'watch me mess up this mayoral conference call with this book on tape of Dracula' or 'let's blackmail the dance team coach.' But if she's in someone's corner, she's in there for life.

“So, why exactly did you raid the fallout shelter?” Annie asks when Janelle has scampered off to wash her face and raid the fridge. 

“I needed some money for Mary-Pat's severance pay.”

“I'm sorry, I must have something crazy in my ear. For the second time today.”

“Rio's picking me up at her house. All I have to do is tell her that my boss knows where she lives, and as long as she keeps her head down and stays quiet, she won't be relocated to the bottom of Lake Huron.”

Oh, god help them all, teenage Beth has returned. Annie almost feels sorry for that poor bitch.


	7. Don't Wanna Wait no more

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final stages of Beth's plan fall into place.

“Can I just say, I hate that you have this?” Annie says, staring at the gun in her hands. She releases the safety, works her finger into the trigger, but doesn't pull. She gets that Beth's probably really tired of having guns pointed at her in her own house, but this seems like overkill.  
“Ok. Now put it back. You remember the combination?” Beth says. The kid's put on some music, something with a bassy beat. It pulses through the floor.  
“121459,” Annie replies. J-A-N-E, plus her age. Unlike the other three, Jane doesn't have any letters in her name that repeat. “By the way, how do we feel about smuggling people?”  
“Why?”  
“Because one of my coworkers wants to get out of the country stat.”  
“I think we're not touching that with a ten-foot-pole. However, you could direct her to Blue. Tell her to ask about the Rare Books section.”  
Blue is Veronica Sothern, one of Beth's friends from the illicit movie days. She runs Beth's favorite bookstore and got her involved in the forum. Beth helps out every quarter with inventory, finances and making sure Blue's computers have all the updates they need.Annie's always thought of Blue as Miss Marple's slightly twisted twin who was raised by a sailor and a bootlegger. Yeah, she would probably be ok with a limited time gig as a coyote.  
“Will do. Which doesn't solve the whole problem. She's pretty sure the store's a front. Worse, she figured out from the schedule that I was out sick that day.”  
“And where was she?”  
“At school. Because she's seventeen.”  
“Yeah..no. Let's not get into kidnapping. Again. Do you think Kinky would make a good mayor?”  
Annie blinks, reviews what she knows about the other woman and blinks again. She doesn't really like Kinky; finds her intimidating and a lot over the top. Sure, Kinky's got the chops for mayor. But she's not a citizen, likes scorched earth tactics, and god knows what skeletons she's got in her closet. All in all, Annie is rapidly beginning to see the merits of moving. Possibly to a nunnery.  
“She's a Triad leader, she's probably murdered more people than Rio-and also, I know I shouldn't judge, but four boyfriends at the same time is kind of a lot. Even if she shares a couple with her husband. Doesn't scream 'mayoral quality' to me, even if you skip the time she went after that guy at the Ren faire.”  
“She has leadership skills,” Beth replies. “And she stands up to racists.”  
“Yeah, we'll just ignore the flaming arrow. And the fire. And the fact that gangster pal probably wouldn't like us going into politics.”  
In Kinky's slight defense, it was a very small fire. And Beth kinda was at fault too; she'd lit the arrow.  
“He'd like the other proposition less, which is why I turned it down.”  
“Yeah, what was it, Kinky wanting to take over his racket?”  
“She wanted a threesome.”  
“Come on, Beth, that's like every guy's.. shutting up now.”  
Beth's glare suggests that is a very good idea. Annie's not eager to get another plate dashed over her head, or for a year of frost. They stash away the money in silence.  
“Um, so what prompted you to raid the hideout, anyway,” she asks.  
“Two reasons. I can't afford another drought, and someone's figured out one of the locks already. I earned it, no one else has the right to it.”  
“Are we going to talk about the yen?”  
“No. Whatever I did in Tokyo, it'll stay there. Though I'm beginning to think I shouldn't have turned Haruki down. For a yakuza, he was kind of sweet. I hope he learned to like his fiancee. Could you run some of the yen over to the bank on Saturday if you get time?”  
Annie blinks, shakes her head and mutters, 'wow.' Her sister dated a Yakuza. She kind of wonders what Ruby has rattling in her closets, and decides that if Ruby's related to a Crip or a mob boss, she doesn't wanna know.  
“I have something for you. Close your eyes and stick out your hands.”  
Annie does, though she remembers all the times that's gone badly. The live baby snapping turtle, the june bug..the tarantula, the snakes.. the Madagascar hissing cockroach.But her hands close on something cool and metal, and she opens her eyes.  
“Beth, where'd this come from?”  
“Oh, there was an entire duffel bag full of them by the shelter. Whoever hid them there will never notice one or two that have gone missing. Might teach them a good lesson about hiding places too. I got one for each of us.”  
“Ruby's never going to go along with this.”  
“Well, we'll just have to keep hers, then.”  
Annie sighs. First the gun, now switchblades, and Beth already owned a bow and a longbow. She's accumulating a regular armory.  
“You could still get out of it, you know,” she says. “Tell Rio your period came, or that you got some random crud from the kids.”  
“And then he'd never give me another chance. No thanks.”  
00  
When they get downstairs, Janelle puts a pillbox on the table. She's wearing opera gloves again.  
“Take this with you,” she says. “It's sis's version of rohypnol for Boomer.”  
“You're going to get Mary-Pat to roofie him?” Annie asks.  
“Sort of. It's got a few extra things- sis only tried it once on herself and it fucked her up for a couple of days.”  
It does something completely whacked to serotonin receptors, if Janelle remembers right. What her sister was actually trying to do was figure out what rohypnol did so she could make a neutralizer.  
“Perfect,” Beth smiles.She takes a tissue out of her purse and uses that to pick up the pillbox. “And I'm going to need your gloves.”  
00  
Janelle walks out with Beth to the car, where Demon's waiting. Rio told him to just play along with Beth's plan, whatever it is.  
The kid chatters rapidly to him in Spanish, giving him the highlights, and his instructions. He nods and looks at Beth with new respect. Maybe he gets it now, what Rio sees in her.They drive in silence for a while.  
“Um, Mary-Pat is suuper Christian,” she says delicately, frowning at the radio.  
“This sounds like a Christian song, right?”  
“No it doesn't. Admittedly, I've only accidentally listened to those stations.”  
“Same. Sports radio it is.”  
“I didn't say you had to change it now. Oh, yeah, she has kids.”  
“Not a problem. Rio, he hates pedos as much as anyone- won't have 'em in his crew. Same goes for rapists.”  
“Oh. That's good to know.”  
00  
“Mind the kids,” Beth tells Demon. “I have to help Mary-Pat here get ready.”  
He nods, looking like he'd rather be babysitting live grenades.  
“Come on, chop-chop,” she says.  
“Who is that?”  
“That is your big brother, Owen,” Beth says.”We're co-workers.”  
“Are you going to tell me what this is all about?” Mary-Pat says, glancing worriedly around.  
“He'll be fine with them, won't you, Owen?” Beth says.  
“Yup. Gonna have one of my own soon,” he says cheerfully. “Could use the practice.”  
00  
“Here's your severance pay- or part of it anyway. Once you do this last job for me and the rest is in your hands, we're done. You stay away from Annie and Ruby, and we've got no problems.”  
“I could go to the cops,” Mary-Pat threatens.  
“No, I'm afraid you can't. See, the guy Owen works for, I told him to meet me here.”  
Mary-Pat pales.  
“What, you thought this was patty-cake?” Beth mocks. “No, honey. That swimming lesson was just a little warmup. If you do as I say, everything will be fine.All you need to do is go to a guy's house, and get some photos. I don't know where they are, but he'll keep them somewhere that he can get to easily. I'd look in a bookshelf or the medicine cabinet.”  
“What are the photos of?”  
“Little girls. Naked little girls, including mine. Even photos of my niece.”  
“Oh my...”  
“Just get them. Give them to Owen. Oh, and the guy might put up a fuss. I'd put this in his wine before you start your search,” she says, handing over the rufies. “Just one, I'm not sure how strong they are.”  
“What is wrong with you?” Mary-Pat whispers.  
Beth smiles, nastily. “This is the way I've always been. See, you're just playing at being bad. I was only ever playing at being good, being nice. What a waste of time that was. It's a good thing your husband died, you know. He'd've seen you for the little sentimental fool you are. Even kept his ties, I see.”  
She lifts one out of the wardrobe. Before Mary-Pat can react, she's looped it around her neck, drawing it tighter and tighter.  
“Poor little Mary-Pat. Here's how the story goes- the kids were running around wild when a friend I was hoping to introduce you to showed up. He called me, I came over, and I found you hanging with your husband's tie around your neck. Poor thing, newly widowed, all that stress, just couldn't take the strain. And your boys grow up in foster care, and the youngest one can't even remember that he ever had parents.”  
She loosens the makeshift garrote. Mary-Pat gasps for air.  
“You were...going to kill me,” she wheezes.  
“You threatened my family. If it's my family or yours, mine will always win,” Beth says coldly. “Step out of line again, and my boss will happily kill you.”  
“And this guy?”  
Beth smiles. “Oh, I'm going to destroy him. With your help. I'll leave him alive, I just want his world torn down around his ears. Now..let's get you ready, shall we?”  
00  
Rio's sure there have been longer afternoons in his life. Possibly, but this one feels like it's gone on forever and a day. He checks his watch again, and drums his fingers on the steering wheel again. And where did Beth send him to, anyway? The houses are dumpy little things in this side of the burb.

He wouldn't put it past her to have given him bum directions or to stand him up. But..she coulda said no. Coulda just given her whole cut to him instead of putting that on the table. Maybe she wants him as bad as he wants her, and thought this was her last chance. 

Admittedly, he shouldn't have jumped at the bait like that, but this past month had been hell. He'd caught himself driving to places where he'd knew she'd be. He'd gone to one of her archery tournaments once, checked the movie theater she goes to, just for a glimpse of her. Sure, he'd hit the clubs too, but he'd ended up more frustrated then before, because every lady he'd met wasn't her. 

From what Annie said, Beth had been climbing the walls too, but he wonders if she missed him or the adrenaline rush. Or both. He gets out of the car, leans against it and tries to act casual. 

Finally, she comes out, with her overnight bag, trailed by a dumpy younger woman and Demon. The younger woman looks a bit harrowed as Demon herds her into his car. He wonders what Beth said to her. Then he's distracted by Beth because..well. Damn. Teeeny black skirt, close fitting red shirt...and hasn't she changed her necklace? And those stockings. Oughta be illegal. 

“Damn,” he says, looking her up and down. “Don't you look fine.”

“You clean up nice too,” Beth says. He's dressed up in a nice blue button down and a pair of black slacks. He seems a little edgy, as though he's nervous. Which is ridiculous.

She scopes out the car discreetly. A black Cadillac. Christ. She doesn't know why she's surprised, but she is. 

“Before we get going, I gotta know something. Why the hell did you lose?”  
Beth grins, steps close to him. “I didn't.”

She leans in, grabs his shoulders and kisses him. He kisses her back, nibbling a little on her lips, and then there's tongue, and Beth's trying to tug him closer, and Rio's pushed his thigh between her legs. He abruptly pushes her back half a step so he can get some control back. Everything about her is intoxicating, including her perfume. She's wearing something light and rose scented.

“Got everything you need?” he asks, picking up the bag. “Fuck, what's in here, a brick?”  
“The new Nesbo book. Hotel rooms get so boring.”

He chuckles. “Oh, boredom is off the agenda, tiger, I can promise you that.”

And there's another word that's officially ruined for her, she thinks as he opens the passenger door for her, chucking the bag in the back.  
“This is nicer than the last car I was kidnapped in,” she remarks.

“What kind was it?”

“A Renualt, I think. One of those awful little French cars that rusts if you give 'em a dirty look. I wanted to go to this underground theater in Paris, and these two French guys agreed to take me there. But I had to pay them a lot of money and agree to wear a blindfold until we got there.”

He shakes his head. “What kinda movies were they showing?”

“Oh, it wasn't like that. It was literally underground. In the catacombs. You should have seen it; full-service resturant, a chandelier, even a dance floor.”

She smiles as she remembers how the chandelier had dazzled her eyes when the blindfold had been removed, watching a movie while sipping wine, and wishing she'd never,ever have to leave.

“It still there?”

“Oh, no, a few years later, a cop fell into it and they had to close up shop.”  
“Cops. Always gotta ruin everything.”

“You said it. I have a couple of questions though.”  
“Go 'head.”  
“Why did no one mention that a Triad leader is living in my neighborhood?”

“Wasn't any need for you to know. Mrs. Wei's businesses and mine don't overlap, and we try and stay out of each other's way. She wasn't the one who fingered you for the robbery; it was that chick that did commercials for the dealership.”

“Amber. Dean's child bride.”

The bitterness in her tone tells him all he needs to know about what went down. Car Man's a damn idiot who needs an accident to happen to him.

“We found her at the airport, buyin' a ticket with cash. I let her keep one grand and the airline ticket.”

“A thousand wouldn't get her very far in LA.”

“It'd last until a porn producer found her. But I knew she hadn't done the robbery, she couldn't plan her way out of a paper bag. What's the other question?”

She smirks slightly at his dismissive tone. 

“Why did you ask me to tell Agent Turner that we...”

She' can't even finish the question.

“Fucked? A guy I know told me once to never tell any tales about myself that I didn't want comin' true. And Turner and me, we've crossed paths a few times, so I know how he thinks. I take it he bought it?”

She nods. “Completely.”

He grins. “Come on, tiger, you're holdin' out on me. What'd you tell him?”

She repeats what she told Turner. Rio's sort of annoyed by one detail- he'd never go drinking at noon.  
At the end of the story she lapses into silence.

“The kitchen table,” Rio repeats. “I'd've picked a bed or the couch myself, but, ya know, it could work. Were you on your back or stomach?”

“I didn't get into that much detail,” she retorts. She's going to combust if he keeps that up.

“Were we makin' love or just hittin' it?”

“There's a difference?”  
“I'll show you the difference, soon as we get someplace with a lock and a bed,” he promises.  
“Promises, promises,” she mutters.  
“Oh, honey, I keep mine.”


	8. Way down we go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night of the plan finally arrives. Can the girls get a win, finally?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Gentleman in a fur coat' is sadly, something I didn't make up. Dressed herring (it has a lot of names) is an actual food.

Annie's sort of zoning out as she chops mushrooms. Janelle's grumbling over the contents of Beth's fridge. She's settled on spaghetti carbonara, but she's obviously not happy with the selection.

“Level with me,” Annie says. “Collard greens, they're actually a joke, right? People just pretend to like them.”  
“Good with bacon.”  
“Everything's good with bacon.”

“Right. Jesus, what are you doing with those mushrooms? I said slice, not cube. Do you even cook?”   
“I never had time to learn.”  
“It's easy, once you start. Although I never, ever wanna have 'gentleman in a fur coat' again.Grandma has a taste for it, but the rest of us all hate it.”  
“That's a food? Sounds like porn.”

“It's herring with shaved vegetables, mostly beet shavings. God, even Russian food is depressing.”  
“Bleh,” Annie says. “Wait, is your grandmother Russian?”

“No. She spent a fair bit of time there, and Mom's maybe half-Russian. And now she hangs with a lot of Russian expats, and they rag on the KSB together.”

Her phone rings. She eyes it warily. Boomer doesn't have her number, that's not Beth's or Ruby's. It's probably too early for Beth's body to turn up, and she wishes she hadn't thought that. Sure, Rio promised she'd be back home safe, but his word isn't worth squat. 

“I'm gonna take this,” she tells Janelle. “Hello?”  
“Annie-Bonnie?”

“Hey, Trish. Long time, no hear. New phone?”

Fuuuuck. All the fucks. A millionty-billion fucks.

“Yep! Listen, I just blew back into town. I'd've called sooner, but I've been crazy busy with rehearsals. We're performing Saturday night, why don't you come, take Ruby and Beth along? Or we could hang out tonight?”

“Are you back with the Fabsters? Or All Heel?”  
“Uh, no. I'm with a salsa crew temporarily. They needed someone to do lifts. But the lead's a lovely lady, and she's letting me do a showcase.”  
“Sorry, I'd like to. But Beth is out of town, and I'm helping Dean with the kids. And working. Ruby's probably gonna pass too. Is this a paying gig? I'm sure you'd do it for free.”

“Yeah, I saw the news on the Gofundme. Hope Sarah gets that transplant. Very funny, of course she's paying me.”

“What brings you back here?” Annie asks. She really wouldn't put it past Trish to hack the FBI.

“The short story is that I got tired of everything being on fire all the fucking time and my workplace went bust. I'd rather not go into the long story.”

“Would Monday work? We need to have face time soon.”

“Sure. Forgot to ask, what's Beth up to?”

“Oh, we started a new business. Kind of a secret shopper thing. Beth got invited to a conference in Joliet, she's hoping to make contacts there.”  
“Good for her. You guys need any help, hit me up.I gotta go, give my love to Sadie and the rug rats, and tell Ruby hi for me. I'd come over, but I'd rather avoid Donnie Dippo. Talk to you later!”

“Shake a leg,” Annie says, their dance team's old joke coming back to her. “Hey, if you have tape of the rehearsals or the performance, I'd love to see it.”  
“Sure thing! Bye!”

Annie breathes out. Woo, that was a dodged bullet. She's not introducing Trish to Rio, it'd be like introducing fire to dynamite. But they'll have to level with Trish at some point, or no appliance will be safe.

00  
Trish glares at her phone and resists, barely, throwing it against the wall. Evidently some shit had gone down since Christmas. She hates being out of the loop, though it's half her fault.

Annie's panicking about something, probably to do with Beth, and can't or won't tell her about it. She can't quite get the nerve up to call Beth directly. She needs to keep better track of her friends, but a lot of shit has been hitting a lot of fans lately.

She should maybe call Ruby, but they just can't get along. Trish has a deepseated allergy to 'being respectable' and..well, she was Annie's friend first and being replaced hurt a lot. And it doesn't help that Ruby wears her heart on her sleeve and has lots of easy-to-press buttons. She's allowed to have feelings, she reminds herself. 

“Hey,” Sofia says, bouncing up to her. “You ok? Nervous?”

She swears Sofia is part jaguar. Lithe build, a catlike caution and a light step that suggests she's floating. Even her hair bounces. Trish wraps her motorcycle jacket closer as a breeze picks up. It does cut the April chill a tad, but she'd wear it even if it were a hundred degrees out. It ruffles her short ponytail, again starting the debate on whether she should clip it or let it grow.

“I never get stage fright,” she replies. “My room for tonight fell through. I was hoping to stay with a friend, but she's at her big sister's place. And big sister is out of town. So it's night of the living dad joke or a roach motel for me.”

It's true she never gets stage fright. Almost every interaction is a performance, carefully calibrated to the audience. 

“I don't see why. I have a perfectly nice couch.”

“Which I have been using for the past three days. Thanks, by the way. But I'm gonna have to go with Benjy on this one and move out before I stink up the joint.”

She's used to being transient, doesn't really mind it. 

Sofia takes a deep sniff. “You smell fine to me. Speaking of joints, that's why I tracked you down. The whole crew is meeting up for pizza and wine. And I might have a little special oregano.”

Trish grins. “I hope you didn't get actual oregano. That's what the kids were selling last time I was here. It was cool though, I basically lived on pasta.”

“Oh, I never get clipped like that. No one'd dare.”

“Well, I am all about terrible ideas,” Trish muses, in a tone that says 'go on, twist my arm.' “Lissy's gonna be there, right?”

“Of course she is. Look, she's cool with it, and she really wants this studio thing to happen for you. Although, I've been thinking that maybe you should get some new wheels.”

“What's wrong with Carmen?” Trish replies, trying to keep her annoyance out of her voice. Her Shadow's very nearly new, and she has a laundry list of mods she wants to make to it. She still misses Selina, her supercub.

“I can't believe you name your bikes to begin with. The thing is, you roll up on the bike, ain't nobody gonna think you're serious about being a dance teacher. Get a cute little hatchback or a sedan, you're gonna be swimming in munchkins. And we have weather here, you know. Might need a bit more protection then biking leathers and a helmet.”

“So, find me a car,” Trish challenges. Sure, all it'll take is a hatchback to propel her into the ranks of 'trustworthy people.' Her wrist itches, and she idly scratches the latest tattoo.

“'Scuse me,” Sofia says, a little taken aback.

“I know you know people that know people. I'm not asking you to do anything but put the word out that someone's looking for a car. All I ask is that it runs, doesn't break the bank, and isn't radioactive. If I wanted a cop's attention, I can get it myself.” 

“Why not just go to a car dealership?” Sofia asks.

“I'm allergic to the salesmen.”  
Sofia laughs. “They make you break out in hives?”

“No, they make my fists itch. It's a job requirement to be backpfeifengesicht, I swear.”

“What's that mean? Sounds like German.”

“It means they all have faces that need to be punched. I don't speak German, just fluent cuss.”  
Sofia laughs helplessly for a minute. “My kinda girl,” she says when she gets her breath back. “Come on, let's go.”  
If only, Trish thinks.   
00  
“So, he says 'no I ain't gonna move, 'and that's when sis drops the crisco on top of his head. His cuz flings the cake batter at her, and then I get into it cause no one treats sis likes that and fling the eggs at him. And at that point, Dad walks in with his friend, who was gonna get the boys jobs. Both in suits and ties, shined shoes, and they just look at us. Dad'd been talking his 'little brothers' up, and there they are, getting bested in a food fight by two little girls!”

Annie has to admit, she's impressed. She's heard of charm offenses- even witnessed some of them, but what Janelle's doing is a charm blitzkrieg. She's only ever seen one other person pull it off.It's working too, Dean hasn't questioned the 'roach spraying' story.

Although Janelle's reaction to Dean is just enough on the chilly side to keep him from hitting on her. Not that Annie thinks he will; Janelle's tiny and looks about two years younger than she claims to be. Even Dean has some fucking standards. She hopes.

“So what happened then?” Emma asks.  
“Dad made us get hosed off, cleaned up the kitchen and made the boys buy sis a cake. She didn't speak to 'em for a week, though.”  
“Those guys, they'd be grown-ups now, right?” Danny asks.

“Yeah. I'm a grown-up too.”  
“You don't look much like one,” Jane announces. “What do you do?”

“I'm an actress, just waiting on callbacks. I work at the store between plays.”  
“Did you know Dad's friend?” Emma chimes in. “She's an actress too.”

Janelle makes a face. “I saw the ads. Can't say I know her to speak to, but I've run into her type. Wants to be the next Marilyn Monroe, but they don't get that Marilyn Monroe wasn't an actress.”

“Wait, if Marilyn Monroe wasn't an actress, what was she?” Annie asks.

“Scenery. All right, who's doing dishes? I cooked.”

“There's a dishwasher,” Dean says. “All we have to do is load it.”

Annie shakes her head. “Was a dishwasher. As of two days ago, it's off having adventures with the coffee table and one of the bookshelves. Someone had to have his expensive scenery, after all.”

“I guess I'm doing dishes,” Dean concedes.   
00  
“Hi, I'm Mary-Pat and this is my big brother, Owen. My car's been having some trouble and he didn't want me to get stranded,” Mary Pat says. “I know you were expecting Annie, but she has a touch of food poisoning.”

“Oh, sorry to hear that,” Boomer says. “Uh, you certainly are..big.”

“Hey. Sorry to crash, but you know how it is. Couldn't have my baby sis getting mugged or worse.”

“Yeah, the crime around here is terrible,” Boomer agrees. “I manage a store, and we got robbed a few months ago. Viciously.”  
He extracts his hand from Demon's grip, rubbing it. Demon stays expressionless. He hates when dudes pull that shit. He's barely known this guy five minutes and already has the impression he's an asshole. 

“Oh, and this is Nana Eileen. Nana, this is Owen and Mary-Pat. Oh, I've gotta get the chicken out.”

Eileen gives Demon a hopeful smile. Damn, Miz Beth is nuking the dude in front of his grandma. That is next-level, arctic ice cold. Heck, if Demon's grandma ever heard he'd even handled pictures of naked kids, she'd cap his ass himself, never mind the Parkinson's. He nudges Mary-Pat.

“Oh, um, I'll go help with the drinks,” she chirps brightly, and scurries off.  
“Is Annie going to be all right?” Eileen asks.

“Yeah,” he says.   
“What do you do?”  
“I used to drive long-haul trucks. Now I'm a bouncer.”

Not really. He mostly keeps an eye on Rio's car-based stuff, when he's not lurking in the background or fetching things from Chicago. He gets along with the prickly chief mechanic. And he has enough of a light touch that Rio trusts him around Val and her big sis.

“You seem very young.”

“Good genes.”  
00  
They eat dinner, nattering about inconsequential stuff. Demon would rather not eat at all. The chicken a la king is rubbery and bland and he's beyond not cool with this. Killing someone isn't easy. Sitting down to dinner with a guy before cappin' him is stomach churning. Finally Mary-Pat excuses herself to 'go to the bathroom.' Boomer's close to drunk, though he's only had two glasses. Demon's not sure if he's a lightweight or if Gin's tweaked her stuff again.

Mary-Pat comes in again, pale and shaking with the photos clutched in her hands.

“Monster,” she hisses, scattering them across the table. “I couldn't believe it, but it's true. You're disgusting.”  
“Leslie, where did these come from? Why do you even have these?” Eileen quavers.  
“They're not mine! I'd never go after kids.”

“Some guys, it don't matter, kids or adults, long as they're crying,” Demon rumbles, stirring the pot a bit more.  
“I'm not like that!”

“Really,” Demon drawls. “'Cause, a couple months ago, a girl in my building almost got raped. Her sis was there, luckily, crowned the guy with a brandy bottle.”  
“That's a lie. It was whiskey,” Boomer snaps, and Demon knows, they've got him. 

“Take me home,” Mary-Pat demands. “Actually, no, I'm going to the police first! And no wonder Annie hates you!”

“I'm going home too,” Eileen says. “Leslie, don't call me until this is sorted out.”  
00  
“What exactly was in those pills I gave Leslie?”

“You know rohypnol or rufies?” Demon asks.  
“I rufied someone?” Mary-Pat asks. “Oh my god.”

“He'd do the same thing to you, so I wouldn't feel bad. But what you have there is actually an antidote. Little Bargaglina, boss's pet chemist, made those. She hasn't licked the side effects quite yet, so that's from her private stash.”

“The side effects?” Mary-Pat asks.

“No one's gonna want something that makes them wanna curl up and cry for a week. 'Til now.”

“Oh my god, and we just left him like that?”

“Yep. With a shit-ton of sleeping pills in his medicine cabinet and a gun in his home office. Gotta hand it to Miz Beth. Turning his own grandma against him, that's art, right there.”

“What you said.. is that true?”

“Yeah. He's probably done it before, too. Val's found a couple of suspicious cases.”

“We're not going to the cops, are we?”

“Fuck no. We're switching here, by the way. Evie'll get you home safe. I'll take the photos.”

“But what about the kids?”

“Those photos are old. Anything that happened, happened long ago. Didn't you notice? One of those kids is Annie. None of the Bolands are blonde, or have green eyes.”

Mary-Pat's tucked in back of a silver thing, with a sullen black girl at the wheel. Demon heads into the picnic area of a park.

“Got the magnesium?” he asks Cris. 

“Yup. How much water again?”

“One drop, no more, no less.”

“Got it, let's do this.”


	9. Chapter 9

Annie's phone binged. She checked it and giggled. 

'You look like Marlene Dietrich's kid with PT Barnum,' she sends. The top is long sleeved and black with red stripes, the skirt is gold and short, chopped at three places to frame Trish's legs. She wears black shorts, striped with gold underneath and a pair of nude ballet flats. She usually wears sneakers or motorcycle boots offstage, onstage it's ballet flats or altitude sickness inducing high heels.  
'Don't start.'  
“What was that?” Emma asked.  
“Your aunt Trish sent me a picture of what she has to wear to her dance tomorrow. Look.”  
“Wow!” Emma says. “Guys, look!”  
“Whoa, sure is sparkly,” Kenny says.  
“Is this her group out in California?” Danny asks.  
“Nope. She's back.”  
“For good?”  
Annie shrugs.  
“I wish she'd be back for good,” Jane says. “She's the only adult who doesn't lie.”

Annie tries not to roll her eyes. Trish won't lie to kids. Adults and her peer group are fair game. She gives fake names at the drop of a hat, is a master of evasions, and on a good day, she'll make Beth look like Honest Abe. She doesn't just have a poker face, she has a poker body.

“Ok!” Janelle says, “Break time's over! Let's start at Act 5 please!”  
00  
Annie's reminded why she hates mornings at Beth's when Janelle's phone chimes. She and Dean herd the kids down the ladder and into the kitchen. Emma's whining about how someone's eating the peanut butter straight out of the jar again (at some point, she's going to have to explain to Beth that 'lunch' isn't three spoonfuls of peanut butter, or expired baby formula), Kenny's whining that he'd rather not go to swim lessons (tough cookies) and Jane would like to go to fairyland, now, please.

Danny's just eating cereal with a pained expression. It takes him a while to wake up. Janelle's in the kid's bathroom, where she fled after taking a look at herself in the mirror. Annie yells at Dean, and heads upstairs to get dressed and steel herself for the day.  
00  
Tyler's opened the store. Annie's glad that she's not the only one who's having a bad day. Cat was clearly up too late last night, two of the other cashiers are nursing hangovers, and oh, joy, Boomer hasn't turned up at all. She doesn't know how to feel about that. On one hand, she's happy he's gone, but she hates that Beth had to do the things she did. Because she had to keep her little (stupid) sister's hands clean. Although nothing could have kept Beth out of Rio's clutches for long. 

She started this whole thing so she could keep Sadie, but what the hell, she was never going to see forty anyway. She'll tell Greg she's dropping the whole thing; he can have Sadie. Uncontested. Heck, she'll go ahead and see if she can get her parental rights terminated. 

Sure, Sadie'll be hurt and bewildered, but she'll be safe. And in two years, Annie will save up her vacation time, and go on a road trip. A lot of things can happen on road trips. Sometimes people don't come back from them. 

“Annie?”  
Oh, god no, she simply can't. Fucking Mary-Pat. But boy, does she look rough.  
“Tell me it isn't true. Tell me Leslie didn't rape you!”  
And she can't, she can't even breathe, her throat's closed up, her head's spinning and the world's spinning..and her vision goes white. She never, ever figured out why they called them blackouts.  
00  
There's something horrible under her nose. Smells like a pig farm. She scrunches up her nose and sneezes.  
“Told you, sometimes the old ways are the best,” Janelle says. She and Tyler are in the break room, and Annie realizes she's on the couch. Janelle caps the little jar she was waving under Annie's nose.

She sits up gingerly.

“Whoa, whoa, you sure you should be doing that?” Tyler asks.

“I'm fine,” Annie lies. Well, she's mostly okay. Dear lord, she can't believe she fainted for real.

“I could take her to the hospital,” Janelle offers. “I have a lunch date with the district manager anyway. And there ain't nothing here I can't wrap up offsite.”  
“Nope, nope, not happening,” Annie protests. “I don't have any more sick days.”  
“Won't be a sick day, I'll just be taking you to the ER.”  
“Yeah...I also don't have health insurance.”

“For fuck's sake. We're going.”  
00

“A lunch date?” Annie asks, leaning out the window.  
“I really do have a lunch date, it's not with the district manager. Rio's cousin found out I'm in town, and if I don't pay my respects..well, I'm a done duck. Figure I'll keep you out an hour, and then we'll head back.”

“She'll call the police?”  
“Worse. She'll call my mom.”

“And your mother doesn't approve of criminal enterprise.”  
“No, she don't approve of being rude.”

Annie bursts into laughter, because that is just hilarious. Mommy raised gangbanger princesses, but by god, they're polite.  
00  
The instant Annie sees the store proprietor, she knows the woman's related to Rio. Same high cheekbones, a little darker than him in skin and hair, and she has the same lean build. Of course, longer hair, in a long braid that brushes the middle of her back. She's pretty striking, in a leaf-green blouse and black slacks that looked like they were designed for her.

Evidently the eye for clothing is genetic. And..yeah, she's pretty sure now that one of Rio's top guys is Sofia's brother. Loud music is pulsing from the back of the store. Janelle shoos Annie to the racks and steps to the register.  
“Hey.”  
“Val! About damn time. Where you been hiding all week? Gin told Pia you were in the city, but she never said what you were up to,” Sofia says, hugging her tightly.

“Oh, you know, this and that,” Janelle says airily. “Dance party in the back?”

“Oh, the old Singer's on the fritz again. Friend of mine said she can fix it, but girl can't do anything quietly. It's like not making noise would cause her pain.”  
“You should just buy a new one,” Janelle says.

“Hey, me and that sewing machine, we got a connection.”

“Um..” Annie says. “I hate to interrupt, but do you have anything in black? Like, if I have to go to a funeral or something?”

“Oh, sure, lemme fix you right up,” Sophia says. “Funny, I don't think I've had this much business from white ladies since the store opened. I had Evie in here not two hours ago, looking for something a redhead could wear. First time I hear any details about who that cousin of mine is dating- and it's just her measurements and her hair color. Imma gonna waterboard his ass.”

“Hey, I fixed the Singer!” a voice from the back calls. Annie freezes in place as Sofia rings up the purchases. No. Oh, god, she hadn't put all the dots together, and probably Janelle hadn't either. Though to be fair, who would expect a gangster's cousin to be running a dance troupe?

“It's ready to go anytime,” Trish chirps, fumbling with the curtains that hide the back room from view. “Though seriously, that thing's older than I am.”  
“They don't make 'em like that anymore,” Sofia says absently. 

“Well, yeah, that's the problem. There's only so much tinkering the thing'll take before you have to start replacing parts. And..Annie!”

She launches herself at Annie, and hugs her. “Sofia, this is the friend I was talking about. Annie, this is Sofia and.. hello, who are you?”

“Val,” Janelle says quickly. Sofia shoots the kid a narrow-eyed look, as if to say 'I don't know what you've been up to, but you are in such trouble.'

“I'm taking Val out to lunch at Snakebird. Help yourselves to the stuff in the fridge- I made two lunches, hate to see food wasted. Trish, you're in charge of the store.”  
“You can count on me.”  
“Snakebird?” Annie echoes.  
“Cajun place,” Trish explains. “Come on, Sofia makes a great torta.”  
00

“So, how's it going?” Trish says.

“Not great,” Annie says with a wrinkle of her nose. She shoves her shopping bags under the table in the back. Trish is munching her sandwich intently and Annie studies her. Clearly, California agreed with her. She's got a bit of color still, and she hasn't lost much weight. Left to herself, Trish eats like a hamster.

“Greg's trying to get custody of Sadie, and I may have to just let him. Ruby lost her job, and the whole store's in a panic because our manager's disappeared into thin air. Again. The only good thing is the business is really taking off.”  
“I hope someone murdered him,” Trish replies. 

Yeah, someone did, Annie thinks. Just the way she did before, a friendly helping hand off a cliff. She takes a deep breath. She doesn't want to faint again.  
“Anyway, what's Sofia like?”

“Oh, she's so fun! Light as a feather, nimble as a greyhound, and she's really looking forward to tonight. Wants to meet her cousin's new girlfriend, who he's apparently been stuck on for months. I almost feel sorry for the girlfriend; Sofia's gonna grill her like a trout.”

Oh, Trish, Annie thinks, All you ever wanted was to be Beth's hero.

“Have you met Sofia's cousin?” she asks. 

“Once or twice. Last time he tried to hire me. I thought it was a pickup, at first.”

She still remembers the words: “Buy me a cheap beer, cause I'm not going home with you.”  
“What did he want you for?”

“My haymaker. Not five minutes before, I picked a fight with one of your exes. Woulda knocked him out too, if one of the cousin's boys hadn't stuck his nose in. Jerk also walked off with my date.”

“Not the one whose motorcycle Beth wrecked?”

That particular ex had given Annie two black eyes and frightened the life out of Sadie. Beth had been incandescent, sailed off to the bar he liked and proceeded to loosen everything on his bike that could be loosened. As a bonus, she'd also put kitty litter in the gas tank.  
“Yup.”

“Trish, he was two times your weight and three inches taller! What the hell were you thinking?”

“That he needed to be beaten like a rug,” Trish says, smiling her charming, lopsided smile. “Who's the kid?”

“Oh, her. I work with her, she volunteered to take me to the ER after I fainted on shift.”

Trish blinks at her owlishly.  
“I'm fine. I was just trying to scare this particular bitchface customer. I hope really bad things happen to her.”

“Reaally,” Trish drawls. “Gimme her address, I'll fill her yard up with broken mirrors.”

“I'd save them for the dealership.”

“Oh..what has Deanzie done now?”

“You know that cute little 'actress' Boland Motors hired? Also, he's pretending to have cancer.”

“Hmm. You want me to murder him?” Trish says, fiddling with a bracelet. She's hated Dean since he and Beth got married. 

“Excuse me. You are six feet tall and dress like a rainbow lorikeet. If you ever committed a crime, the cops'd be on you like white on rice.”

This charge has some basis in fact. Trish is wearing a gold shirt and black slacks, which is toned down for her. She was their high school's only neon goth.

Trish grins. “They haven't caught me yet. Running a roomba fighting ring isn't illegal, technically, and they never found out about the other stuff. Hell, I had FBI clearance for a while, my background's that squeaky clean.”

She still has clearance, though not officially. She coded in a loophole that automatically authorizes her to access most of the FBI's database. She doesn't want or intend to screw with top-secret stuff, but until recently, the midlevel stuff was fun bedtime reading.

“You never murdered anyone,” Annie says, hoping it's true.  
“I came close once, you know that. I was lucky they went easy on me.”  
“You were twelve and it was self-defense.”

She remembers that evening in bits and pieces. The marks left on Trish's hands because she'd been gripping the golf club so long and so tightly, the flash and shudder of the police sirens. Yelling her head off into the phone, scared that this time it might be too late. Trish sitting still and rigid in the police lounge, adults talking over their heads.

Trish blows out a long shuddering breath. “Anyway, tell me about this new business. Need any part-time help?”

Annie recognizes that for the out it is and prepares to lie her ass off.  
00  
When they get back to the car, Annie notices that she and the girl have swapped places. Janelle looks a little pale now. Annie feels a little revived, honestly. Trish is so high energy, she could power a building. Even as a kid, she never could sit still or slept much.

“So, how'd lunch go?”  
“About what I expected. I knew it was a shakedown, but Sofia's real pissed at Rio, and she's pissed at me, for going along. It's Valentine, by the way.”  
“What?”

“My real name. Valentine Alexandria.”  
“Pleased to meet you, Valentine.”  
“Who was that woman in the store?”

“Oh, Trish O' Rourke. We were best friends growing up. Now I don't know if she'll ever speak to me again. Especially if she finds out what we're up to.”

“Too honest to be brought in?”

 

“No, she's going to be pissed she was left out of the crime spree.”

She texts Ruby before they get back to the store. They need to talk.  
00

“Rio's cousin runs a dance troupe,” Ruby says incredulously. “And how'd Trish get into this? She ain't no salsa dancer.”  
“She's always had great memory, and I swear she was the world's biggest fan of Rita Hayworth as a kid,” Annie says. “You know how many times we watched Cover Girl and You were Never Lovelier? At least fifty. And she picks up steps quick.”

“So, how do we make sure they don't run into each other? I don't think Rio's the type to share, and he's good at reading people. When it comes to Beth, Trish is like a window.”

“We can't,” Annie sighs. “Anyway, maybe he'll be too busy.”

“Thanks, literally the last thing I wanna think about. I mean, I'm glad Beth's got someone, but..him?”

“You and me both,” Annie agrees. “You said you had something we needed to handle.”

“Yeah. Your boy Eddie's been narking on us. What do we do?”

“Well, we could tell whoever's in charge this week. Or we could.. I dunno, scare him.”

“The heck do we do that?”

“Ask the expert,” Annie suggests, pointing at Janelle.

She sighs. “Well, normally I don't encourage this. But it so happens we got a couple of aces to play.”

“Really, all I see are Jokers,” Ruby says.

“Eddie don't know a lot, really. Rio's been sidelining him 'cause he was worried this might happen. But I know who green-eyed Bargaglina is, and he don't.”  
She glances at her phone, and dials. When whoever on the other end picks up, she begins chattering in a strange language. Annie's not sure what she's saying, but oh, boy, does it sound angry. She pauses, resumes and then finally hangs up.

“Ok. We have the start of a plan.”  
“What was that?”

“Oh, I called one of Grandma's drinking buddies. Russian expats, all of 'em, and they hate the youngbloods the Russian mob is sending over. Which means we can pull a fast one Turner-honey'll never see coming. One of the young bloods is a green-eyed Molly dealer.”

“So?”

“I tell you someone's black-haired and got green eyes, what color is their skin?”  
“Huh? Trick question..” Ruby starts and then goes, “oh.”

Val grins. “Right. So, Eddie tells the feds she's Rio's pet chemist. She isn't. But by the time they figure that out, the waters'll be nice and muddy, and they'll be spending some weeks figuring every thing out. Then Eddie gets booted from the gang, and gets something resembling a legit job. Now I gotta talk to Cris, make sure Eddie's driving me to the airport, so I can feed him his lines.”

“Let's do it,” Annie says, grinning.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, boy. I just really wanted a fic where Boomer's hash gets settled, because screw that guy. So...since I haven't figured out drafts yet, here's a three page intro. Also, my personal head-cannon is that Beth was a seriously scary person in her teens.


End file.
